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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24077956">Thorns &amp; Snakes</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elle_m2/pseuds/Elle_m2'>Elle_m2</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Albus Dumbledore Bashing, BAMF Hermione Granger, F/M, Ginny Weasley Bashing, M/M, Molly Weasley Bashing, Nice Malfoy Family (Harry Potter), Political Alliances, Pureblood Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley Bashing, Severus Snape Redemption, Snake familiar, Soul Bond, Soulmates, Strong Hermione Granger, Veela Hermione Granger, hades is baby</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 20:54:04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>40,527</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24077956</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elle_m2/pseuds/Elle_m2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In the wake of their fourth year at Hogwarts, the Tri Wizards Tournament chooses Harry Potter as a champion, and life changes irrevocably for two members of the Golden Trio as Hermione finally sees her opportunity.</p><p>A change of House, an hidden identity revealed, a secret powerful soul bond discovered, and Old Rituals awakening...What would have happened to the Wizarding World if Hermione Granger wasn't who everyone thought she was?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Harry Potter/Blaise Zabini, Hermione Granger &amp; Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger &amp; Harry Potter, Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>353</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1024</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue ~ Lost and found</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I do not own Harry Potter. All copyright to JK Rowling, I just play with it and decide to forget Canon....</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p>Severus Snape was exhausted.</p><p>Actually, exhausted was probably a euphemism at this point.</p><p>The 36 years old going on approximatively two hundred could feel every joint, every bone and every muscle of his body spasming a little more each day, and that was without even accounting the deep fatigue that had settled into his soul and mind for the past few years.</p><p>He had been strained and stretched in all directions since the First War, so much so that he had long passed the point of exhaustion, and years spent trying to care for the misunderstood students of his ostracised House while still protecting the spoiled son of his childhood bully had finally made him reach the end of his rope.</p><p>Suffice to say, Severus simply didn’t have the will for any of it anymore.</p><p>He had firmly determined a long time ago that maybe, just maybe, it was time to roll over, belly up, and wait for death to grant him his sweet relief, but a promise to himself, and the spirit of the only woman that had felt like home, was keeping him alive.</p><p>That… and a vow to a manipulative megalomaniac with twinkling eyes and an ugly painful mark tattooed on his arm linking him to the sadistic dark counterpart of said twinkly ageing arsehole.</p><p>Not for the first time since he was 17, Severus sighed, pinching his eyebrows with his pointer fingers, exhaling his frustration in a harsh breath and wondering how he could possibly have been dumb enough to think any of the people he had decided to give his loyalty to had cared about him.</p><p>It was not about him.</p><p>It had <em>never</em> been about him.</p><p>And to be perfectly honest, he didn’t expect it to be. If even his parents hadn’t considered his life important, how could he had been foolish enough to expect someone else would?</p><p>Another year had started, another flock of students eager to prove to him every single day that there was absolutely no way in Heaven or Hell that Severus could ever decide to have children of his own.</p><p>That was to say if he ever survived the new War predicted by Albus that was looming on the horizon.<em> Like survival was going to happen...</em></p><p>After a year of working next to the wolf that had traumatised him as a teenager and protecting Potter against the threat of yet another bully from his childhood escaped from Azkaban, only for said bully to escape free seconds before he could receive the Kiss… Severus was tired and looking forward to a year free of threats and adventures.</p><p>He really should have known better than that by now.</p><p>Because this year, Albus, in his typical <em>twinkly </em>grand extravagance, had had the brilliant idea of allowing the Triwizard Tournament to take place at their school.</p><p>
  <em>Merlin…</em>
</p><p>There weren’t enough amount of eye-rolls Severus could do that would express how utterly stupid he had found this idea. It was like dangling diamonds and golden necklaces in front of a Niffler and waiting for him to reach for it with his little paws.</p><p>The Tournament could have taken place at Durmstrang or Beauxbatons, allowing only the volunteers of age to go, but no! Albus had insisted for it to take place in - what was it that he said? - the “esteemed and prestigious grounds of our beloved Hogwarts”.</p><p>As far as Severus was concerned, Potter was a magnet for catastrophes, and this was a disaster waiting to happen.</p><p>Well, it hadn’t missed.</p><p>Potter was the 4th champion.</p><p>Potter was the <em>4TH CHAMPION</em> in a Three Wizards Tournament.</p><p>Of <em>bloody</em> course.</p><p>Severus was actually starting to wonder if Merlin, Morgana, Circe, and all the deity of the magical world weren’t having a blast in the afterlife betting on his reactions and waiting for him to explode.</p><p>Well, whoever was putting money on him killing Potter with his bare hands seemed more and more likely to be the winner.</p><p>Runnerup was the one betting for him to end himself because that was an option that was beginning to sound like absolute and eternal bliss to him.</p><p>He knew the brat wasn’t responsible for this little stunt.</p><p>It was perfectly clear to anyone who actually knew Mr Potter’s magical capabilities that he was innocent in this new development. While undoubtedly gifted - and Merlin, it was killing him even to acknowledge that fact - Potter simply didn’t have the powerful magical strength necessary for a coup like that.</p><p>Dumbledore had basically confirmed the kid was innocent when discussing this new evolution alone with him, right after Minerva’s loud and angry departure.</p><p>And while the vindictive part of him had rejoiced with ideas of the struggles the messy-haired little shit was going to be faced with, another part of him was simply lost and confused.</p><p>Three whole years and his entire life dedicated to helping the boy survive and Dumbledore seemed to have no issue sending him straight on - and with no support - into the deadliest Tournament created in the magical world.</p><p>That the old man had actually used the word “progress” to describe this weird occurrence hadn’t escaped his attention either.</p><p>It just didn’t make sense, and Severus never liked it when things didn’t make sense.</p><p>As a teenager, he had been a delusional lanky boy, yearning and craving affection and a place to belong, but the man that was now storming through the corridors of the school had been forged by hardships, heartbreaks, and too many Cruciatus’s sessions to afford any doubt, lack of knowledge or hesitation.</p><p>So, while one of his goals was always going to be the end of the Dark Lord, it didn’t mean Severus wasn’t on edge and watching his back with each side. His first and foremost pledge was, after all, to guarantee the survival of Lily’s boy.</p><p>It was also important to note at this point that Severus didn’t consider that “happiness” was part of this equation. So, who cared if the boy was about to face incessant mocking and insults from his peers, it was not part of his mission to care for this.</p><p>Survival and safety would have to be enough as far as he was concerned.</p><p>Yet, something was still bothering him. Years of experience were enough to make him question everything that had happened after the Cup announced the names. Finding secrets and observing were his speciality, he was a spy and a pretty good one at that, and since it just didn’t make sense, Severus was going to figure this out.</p><p>Pondering and strategizing already, he practically ran through the hallways and, as a result of his inattention, walked straight into a little body while he was rounding the corner of a corridor near his study.</p><p>Hissing sharply, he jerked back, scowling as he looked down, his automatic snarled threats dying in his throat, unspoken, as his gaze rested on the sprawled out form of the insufferable know-it-all Golden Princess.</p><p>
  <em>Aaah.</em>
</p><p>Miss Granger.</p><p>If Potter was the bane of his existence for his stunts, his blatant disregard for the rules and his entitled attitude too reminiscent of the boy’s father, Miss Granger was just plain and pure torture.</p><p>The little chit was brilliant, studious, and absolutely insufferable for everything she had dare awakened in Severus.</p><p>She had been the painful embodiment of Lily Evans... until she wasn’t anymore and that was precisely when he had started struggling.</p><p>Muggle-born, bright, curious, eager to learn, struggling to make friends in her new world. But the similarities stopped there, and every new discovery about Miss Granger had made him question his relationship with the girl he had hurt and loved in the past.</p><p>Because Hermione Granger was forgiving, loyal to a fault, kind, ready to look over past offence to give the one she cared about another chance...where Lily Evans had been less forgiving, less open-minded, and sometimes even a little shallow.</p><p>It had taken one word.</p><p>One painful, awful word that he had flagellated himself with ever since uttered in the midst of a humiliating event for her to reject him… but she had had no problem forgiving the years of bullying of the man she eventually chose.</p><p>Looking at the know-it-all actions with her friends, he had started wondering if Lily hadn’t left him long before that day...and if that accident had just been the excuse she was looking for.</p><p>Because Severus wasn’t popular, he wasn’t loved, he was different and nothing like the kind of relationship Lily Evans wanted to be associated with. And with time, he had started thinking that maybe it hadn’t been love for him either... but need.</p><p>Need for social interaction, for someone that would understand, someone that would care...</p><p>Yes, Miss Granger had made him reflect on their relationship and Severus hadn’t liked what he had found there, and that was simply something he wasn’t ready to deal with, so what if he was particularly nasty to her then… it went right along with the fact that she was Potter’s friend and that was enough to justify it for now.</p><p>“Well, well, well, what do we have here, the insufferable know it all, wandering the corridors past curfew, that would be-” he stopped, sputtering on his words when the girl jumped to her feet again, straightened her skirt and clamped her hands around his forearm, attempting to drag him away. “Miss Granger, how dare you-”</p><p>“Come with me, Professor. You need to come with me,” she stressed, and Severus stopped, registering the panic and urgency in her voice, and the way the girl’s eyes darted everywhere around her.</p><p>Her usually bushy brown hair was frizzing and cracking madly with magic so potent that he could feel it run along his arms.<br/>
No amount of distaste for the girl or her House would make him forget that he was first and foremost one of their teachers, and the bookworm of Gryffindor was hardly the sort of student to create chaos out of nowhere.</p><p>She was also the last student that would seek him out and that had all his warning signals going up.</p><p>“Miss Granger,” he drawled, “What is happening?”</p><p>“Harry is in danger.”</p><p>Hm...Did she think this statement was surprising?</p><p>Because it wasn’t.</p><p>It really wasn’t.</p><p>In fact, that was hardly something new.</p><p>It was, however, concerning, and when he had maintained his indifferent expression long enough to be able to run through the list of things that could be happening, he realized he had absolutely no idea where he was. The girl was dragging him along with her through the castle, and he had followed her like a dutiful dog without even offering resistance.</p><p>Ripping his arm out of her hand, he stopped her run again, “Why are you not fetching your own Head of House? Whatever Potter did again can be dealt with by people that actually care, Miss Granger. I am not part of them. So, dare I ask... why do you think it is of my concern?”</p><p>“Because it is. I know it is.”</p><p>And the certainty and the knowing look she pierced him with threw him on a loop. How could she be so sure of herself, and what on Earth had he ever done that would make her think Potter was under his protection.</p><p>“And it is not Professor McGonagall I need right now, it’s you,” she kept talking, not letting him pause and reflect on her words. “Professor McGonagall is already in our common room, dealing with the rest of the House, that’s not where I am taking you.”</p><p>“And where are you taking me? Miss Granger, those are the boy’s toil-”</p><p>The words died in his throat.</p><p>There, on the floor, was Potter.</p><p>Except the boy sitting with his arms wrapped around his legs, his body shaking with the force of his sobs, had nothing in common with the petulant nightmare Severus pictured him as.</p><p>“Harry,” the girl murmured, kneeling in front of him.</p><p>Slowly, showing him her hand, she rested it on his hair, soothing him with a caress that made Severus’heart constricts in his chest.</p><p>So gentle, so soothing.</p><p>He had never been touched like that, not as a boy, and certainly not as a man. Yet right now, even though he positively ached for human comfort, he couldn’t muster the bitter resentment and dismay necessary to stay in his usual angry persona. He was just too confused, and could barely manage not to gape at the picture unravelling in front of him.</p><p>“Harry, it’s me. You’re safe. He is not around. None of them... They’re not here, ok? Professor McGonagall is in the common room, and I found Professor Snape, alright? Do you still trust me?”</p><p>The boy nodded, not lifting his head but pushing against Granger’s hand, seeking her touch. “We’ll do what I talked to you about, but I can’t ask him for you, the request must come from you. Ask him, Harry. Say exactly what I told you.”</p><p>“In its second edition, in an amendment that hasn’t been changed since then, <em>Hogwarts: A History</em> states that,” the boy started, in a shaky rough voice, hesitating and glancing at Granger that was mouthing the words to him, “under certain circumstances including threats,” his voice quivered, “or attempts against the physical and psychological well-being of a student... said student can formulate an official request to be freed of any attachments with his former House, under the watchful eyes of his former Head of House and the witness of said attempts. And I do. I formally request to be sorted again by the Sorting Hat, with Hermione Jean Granger as my witness.”<br/>
Flabbergasted.</p><p>Completely and utterly flabbergasted.</p><p>And if Severus hadn’t already been completely gaping, he might have fallen on his arse when Potter finally lifted his head.</p><p>For the first time since he had started school, Severus could see no trace of his father in the boy. He didn’t see a bully or an arrogant entitled spoiled brat. No, instead - and he would deny it to anyone who dared ask - he saw himself as a child.</p><p>And the thought was terrifying.</p><p>Red, teary eyes looked back at him, the corner of his lips leaking with blood and the shadow of a bruise already appearing under his left eye. There were liquids and shards of glass on his clothes, presumably from his glasses that Miss Granger had already put back together.</p><p>It was a child.</p><p>A 14 years old terrified child looking at him with absolutely no expectations and that was what made him pause again. Because Potter didn’t seem to think anyone was going to help him, and Merlin did Severus know what that felt like.</p><p>And the girl… She was watching him intensely, her arms wrapped around Potter’s shoulders, rocking him slightly from side to side but never looking anywhere else. There was something fierce and calculating in her eyes, and Severus almost felt like he was being tested, and for an unfathomable reason, he couldn’t muster the energy to just say <em>“to hell with it.”</em></p><p>In fact, he very much wanted to know what was going to happen now.</p><p>He had always been good at judging a situation, and his instincts were telling him that something bigger was at play.</p><p>So, Severus didn’t talk.</p><p>He wasn’t even sure he could put together words at that point. Instead, he nodded briskly and took a step back, gesturing with his hand to the door behind him.</p><p>Potter and Granger walked slowly past him, the boy being supported by the girl in an obvious display of emotional distress.</p><p>Mustering enough strength to resume his usual dismayed countenance, he turned in a flourish of billowing robes and hair and started marching the corridors on his way to Albus’s office.</p><p>Merlin, Albus was going to have a fit…. <em>AH!</em> If that wasn’t enough reason to enjoy this...</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>***</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Severus was going to find a way to use a pensieve and take a picture of this memory.</p><p>Wizard picture of course because he very much hoped to watch this scene again and again and again…</p><p>Albus Dumbledore was speechless and looked completely lost.</p><p>The older wizard hadn’t stopped gaping since they had barged into his office and Potter, holding Granger’s hand tightly, had formally requested to be sorted again. The fact that he was still gaping five minutes later and that he had to be reminded to call for McGonagall was a pretty clear indication of the man’s confusion.</p><p>Severus was loving every single minute of it.</p><p>Not that he could show it, mind you. He was too busy observing everything that was happening, storing every single minute away to analyse later.</p><p>So, when Albus finally closed his mouth and intertwined his two hands under his chin in a pensive gesture, Severus didn’t miss the calculating angry gleam in his eyes every time he looked at Granger.</p><p>And the girl... she was ignoring him a little too obviously, focused on taking care of Potter who was still shaking in her arms. She only looked up from comforting her now silent best friend when her Head of House entered the room.</p><p>“Ah, Minerva, thank you for joining me so late, I am sure this is just a misunderstanding. I believe there might have been an incident in your House tonight, Harry here seemed quite distressed,” Albus said, popping one of his infuriating lemon drop in his mouth, with a fond smile on his lips.</p><p>“Yes, I..” Minerva, on the other hand, looked absolutely furious and flustered, her eyes swirling with protective rage. “Albus, I have no words. Never before have I ever been this ashamed of my House. Mr Potter, I want you to know that I took away points, and assigned him and the main perpetrators to detention. This will not go unpunished.”</p><p>“There, there. Isn’t that perfect, my boy? Now off to bed, it has been a tiring and challenging night for you and you need rest” Dumbledore replied, linking his fingers together, and smiling indulgently at his protegee.</p><p>While all eyes were on Potter, Severus was looking at Dumbledore and so, he didn’t miss the fury in Albus’s eyes when Granger’s hesitant voice broke the silence before he could push them out the door.</p><p>“Headmaster, I’m sorry..hm. This isn’t why we came here.”</p><p>“Miss Granger, I am addressing Harry, maybe it would be better if you were taken back to your common room. It is quite late, and I know how you value your studies,” Albus replied, his voice positively colder and harsher.</p><p>“No,” Potter shook his head, his hand latching on tightly to Granger’s. “She needs to be here. That’s the rule, I know. She is my witness.”</p><p>“Witness for what Mr Potter?” Minerva intervened, confused.</p><p>“Harry, here, has asked to be sorted again. Surely, my boy, a misunderstanding between friends isn’t enough to make you leave your home, now is it?” Albus asked, “Who could possibly have made you think about changing House?”</p><p>The girl stiffened next to Potter, and Severus who was standing behind them near the wall noticed it immediately. Hidden behind their robes, Potter squeezed her hand, sensing her panic.</p><p>“I did it on my own, I mentioned it last year I think, as a joke and Hermione is so used to quoting and reciting thing from her favourite book. So, when I said that I wondered if someone could ever change Houses, she just started babbling. Earlier, when they...I just… I remembered what she said last year and I told her that’s what I wanted.”</p><p>Well, that was a lie… <em>but why?</em></p><p>“Mr Potter, are you sure?” Minerva asked, her voice and hands trembling.</p><p>“Yes, I am sorry Professor, it’s nothing against you, but I just… I don’t want to be in this House if that’s how they treat their own.”</p><p>“Alright...Miss Granger, I already heard everything, but Professor Snape and the Headmaster didn’t. Please do explain the events you witnessed.”</p><p>“I witnessed Harry getting sorted as the 4th champion and the tension starting to rise in the Great Hall as soon as all the teachers and representants of the Ministry left. There were a lot of screams and insults about Gryffindor House, and the whole House retreated to our common room when our Prefect asked us too, to avoid any conflicts. Ronald Weasley stormed up to his dorms and started throwing Harry’s belonging on the stairs. I heard a lot of things break, and I tried to stop it, I managed to save a few things but Ronald was furious. He kept saying that Harry did it on purpose, there were a lot of slurs used that ..” Granger stopped, her face twisting in anguish as she looked at Potter, “ Do I have to repeat all them?”</p><p>“I’m afraid you do, Miss Granger,” Minerva replied, forcing a sad indulgent smile on her lips.</p><p>“Ronald told Harry that there was nothing more to expect from the son of a Mudblood, that Lily and James Potter were better off without him as a son. He told everyone around the room that Harry betrayed his House, there were a lot of other insults from Ronald but Harry never answered, I think he was too stunned to defend himself. But when he noticed his family album destroyed on the floor he tried to push Ronald out of the way and reach for it. Ronald punched him and started beating him on the floor. I intervened and while I was yelling at him Ronald tried to cast a stinging hex at Harry when his back was turned. I disarmed him before that and he slapped me.”</p><p>“He...what? Are you alright, Miss Granger?” Minerva stuttered, her hands shaking with distress. The Lioness looked furious on behalf of her cubs and Severus wondered if Mr Weasley had any idea the trouble he had just brought upon himself.</p><p>“I am, my magic protected me,” the girl shrugged.</p><p>“What do you mean, Miss Granger?” Severus intervened, at a loss for words.</p><p>A slow, positively vicious smirk lifted the corner of the girl’s mouth, “Exactly what I said. My magic protected me, she threw him away from me.”</p><p>And while Minerva was fretting over Potter, Severus didn’t miss the way Dumbledore flinched at the girl’s words and fingered his wand, while Granger smiled at him innocently.</p><p>
  <em>What in the name of Merlin was happening?</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>***</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>“SLYTHERIN!”</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Of <em>BLOODY</em> course. Scratch any magical deity’s bet placed on his back, Severus was going to throw the cards and win the jackpot by ending himself right now.</p><p>Faced with that much evidence and Minerva’s approval, Albus had had no choice but to allow the boy to be sorted again, and much to his own dismay Potter was now a member of his House… Severus could already feel the headache coming when he thought of his House reaction... Draco was going to love this….</p><p>“Thank you for your help, Professor. If I may-” the know-it-all started from where they stood outside the Headmaster’s office.</p><p>She had exchanged a few hushed words with Potter and was now waiting for Minerva to finish her private talk with the boy.</p><p>“No, you may not, Miss Granger, you have done enough for tonight,” Severus growled, aware that his words didn’t carry their usual anger and distaste. It was hard to stay angry at the girl when she had confused him more than anything. “Whatever this is, I am sure Professor McGo-”</p><p>“Then I will say it anyway. A Head of House is responsible for the health of their charges. If I may suggest… I think you will find that Harry has never had the mandatory full medical record drawn since his arrival at Hogwarts. He is actually not the only one,” she added in a mumbled whisper. “I am confident you will find certain aspects of said report interesting.”</p><p>“20 points from Gryffindor for meddling, Miss Granger. And 20 other points for assuming you can tell me how to do my job.”</p><p>“Fair enough,” she nodded, turning to join her Head of House and hesitating after a few steps.</p><p>She whipped around and something in her eyes made him stop too. Miss Granger was anything but a pleading desperate girl, yet he couldn’t read anything else than those emotions in her eyes right now. “But please, take a look at it anyway. Even if you do it for nothing else then to prove me wrong.”</p><p>“Miss Granger,” he called out again in a low voice, reluctant to have anyone hear that the girl in front of him actually intrigued him.</p><p>
  <em>Perish the thought.</em>
</p><p>“Why Slytherin?”</p><p>She cocked her head to the side and offered him a sad little smile, knowing and almost nostalgic, “There is nothing more dangerous than a pit of Snakes… except if you’re one of them, an attack against one is an attack against all of them. Snakes are resilient and they take care of their own, Professor. ”</p><p>Well then… A Gryffindor praising the Snakes… Maybe this night was actually a figment of his imagination...</p><p>In a daze, Severus led the silent new Slytherin to his quarters and gestured to his bathroom.</p><p>“Mr Potter, you will sleep on a transfigured bed in my quarters tonight, we will deal with your sleeping arrangement in the morning. The castle will have made the necessary adjustments to the boys’ dormitory by then, and I will inform the other students of your year of this...changes. Here is the bathroom. Take a shower to wash... whatever is dripping from you. And then off to bed. And...Wait.”</p><p>Severus drew his wand out and was startled when the boy in front of him flinched hard. Eyebrows furrowing, he slowed down his movement and showed him his hand. “I need to draw a complete medical history from you, it is done for each student when they meet their Head of House.”</p><p>“I’ve never had that...Hm sure, go ahead.”</p><p>
  <em>Shite.</em>
</p><p>The girl wasn’t lying.</p><p>Since when did Minerva forget her duty? The proud Scottish woman was fiercely protective of her cubs, the same way Severus was with his own charges, and their physical health was never something she took lightly.</p><p>Well, no matter, Granger always followed the rule, she was probably just upset by the knowledge that Potter hadn’t been submitted to the same process as other students.</p><p>He could not blame her for that, he hated preferential treatments himself. Still, it hardly mattered to him to be able to read how many candies the boy had been stuffing himself with when he was a kid. A few minutes later, the spell finished his work and a few sheets appeared in his hand, the full medical record drawn and reported on paper.</p><p>“Good, now off you go and take a shower. Tonight has been particularly dreadful and I, for one, wish to pretend that this is not happening right now.”</p><p>When the boy disappeared in the bathroom, Severus exhaled a frustrated breath. He could not be found openly sneering and insulting the boy now that he was one of his House, and while he was furious at the Weasley’s words, he was hardly inclined to care for the Boy-Who-Lived himself.</p><p>Shaking his head, he looked down at the papers.</p><p>And everything stopped.</p><p>This… This was not what he had been expecting.</p><p>This was not at all what he had been prepared for.</p><p>Did he make a mistake in his spell?</p><p>That was…. Albus would have seen.</p><p>Surely, someone would have seen.</p><p>Surely that wasn’t true.</p><p>But doubting the results meant doubting his own magic and that wasn’t something Severus ever did… though he supposed there was a beginning for everything.</p><p>Because if this was true, then he had been wrong, and he hadn’t been a bastard to the child of his bully. He had been a bastard to a child who wouldn’t see the difference anyway because he had never been treated much better.</p><p>A flurry of insults exploded from his mouth then as Severus surveyed the list once again.</p><p>Distress. Hypothermia. Broken bones. Burns. Infection on minor cuts. Lack of parental affection. Lack of social interaction. Lack of sleep. Distress again. Nightmares. Touch deprivation. Denutrition. Malnutrition. What seemed to be regular attacks leaving untreated wounds. Frequent adrenaline peaks. Distress again accompanied by suicidal thoughts <em>(Merlin…)</em>. And that was before the age of 10.</p><p>The years at Hogwarts were not much better, the boy still suffered from everything he had already read, Severus just needed to add all the things that had happened with Quirrel, the diary, Lupin, Black and if he had to be honest….himself.</p><p>Yes. He had been very wrong.</p><p>“Professor Snape?”</p><p>“What?” He snarled, startled and unable to control his anger.</p><p>In front of him stood Potter, wet hair and bare feet, ready for bed. He was shuffling on his feet and clearly hesitating.</p><p>“What is it Mr Potter that has you fidgeting like this…”</p><p>“Mr Sna..hm, Professor Snape, I have a question,” the boy interrupted him, “well actually, Hermione told me to ask you.”</p><p>Biting back the instinctive insult, Severus pressed his fingers against his temples, fighting the dreadful migraine settling behind his eyes. “What is it, Mr Potter? And since when do you follow anything Miss Granger asks of you in regards to me? I seem to recall a lot of your lessons spent dismissing the instructions she gave you, especially when it was to respect your elders and-”</p><p>“She said I could trust you. Hermione is the only one who believed me. Well, maybe Neville did, I don’t know, everything happened too fast. And no one came forward to stop it, so even if they believe me, I don’t think I trust them anymore. ‘Mione is the only one I know that has been putting me first all along, even when I wasn’t kind to her and even when it meant I stopped talking to her… She said I could trust you. She said she trusted you. And I trust her, so…” Potter shrugged.</p><p>
  <em>“She said she trusted you.”</em>
</p><p>Merlin, could this night get any weirder?</p><p>“Come on, Potter. Get on with it then.”</p><p>“Well, I didn’t understand everything, but then again it’s not unusual with ‘Mione,” Potter mumbled. “She said something about Magical’oaths to prove my innocence and that I should ask you to teach me to do one. And she said that if you thought it was unnecessary I should remind you that I now represent Slytherin House not only to the Hogwarts students but to the whole magical world. So my words, my supposed cheating stunt, any breaking of the rules, and my failures are going to be forever assimilated to my new House.”</p><p>
  <em>Bloody fuck</em>
</p><p>Oh, she was good.</p><p>And absolutely ruthless.</p><p>4th year was probably not going to be the year he could finally rest, but Severus was certain this was going to be the more interesting one.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*</strong>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>On the other side of the castle, at the top of the Gryffindor tower, curled under her blanket in the girl’s dormitories, Hermione Granger smiled.</p><p>It only lasted a few seconds before the smile slipped from her lips when It started again.</p><p>Casting the strongest silencing charm she knew on her bed, Hermione turned her head, biting the pillow between her teeth to stop her screams as the pain sprayed like wildfire in her veins.</p><p>Her body seized, taunt and rigid, as powerful spells put on her and Old Magic battled, trying to overpower each other. And even though the spells won every time, she still hoped.</p><p>Next to her, Crookshanks was purring loudly, butting his head against her chest, trying to comfort her, but although she loved him dearly, a part of her was craving and calling for another kind of comfort.</p><p>One that had been denied to her for the past four years...</p><p>It was high time to put a stop to it.</p><p>4th year was her chance to end this hell she was forced to endure, and then, it would start...</p><p>Tonight was just the first move and then the game could begin.</p><p>There were a lot of cards Hermione Granger was ready to push and watch as they crumbled.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>~ Chapter 2 ~ Snakes and Plans</strong>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Harry Potter knew only one thing for certain in his life… and it was that Hermione Granger was always right.</p><p>Anything else was always susceptible to change, and every new year brought with it a whirlwind of new information, false accusation and life-threatening events, but there was always one constant in his life… and that was her.</p><p>He supposed he could have counted Ron as one steady part of his life too, but there was absolutely nothing stable about his friend’s temper, and Harry - not used to having friends - had always felt that he had had to rise up to Ron’s expectations. It hadn’t been… well, it hadn’t been exactly <em>bad</em>, but he was only realizing now that, although he had never doubted his best mate’s loyalty until then, Hermione had always been....<em>more</em>.</p><p>And it didn’t matter how many arguments she ever had with Ron. It didn’t matter how many times Harry himself had rolled his eyes, following his ginger best friend’s lead, when she “nagged” them about their lessons or a dangerous plot they were considering...</p><p>Nothing else would ever make him deny the single absolute truth in his universe, and it was that you could never win a bet against that girl.</p><p>Besides, if “nagging” was reminding them what they were supposed to recall on their own, then yes, she did nag.</p><p>
  <em>Thank bloody Merlin for that, because where would I be otherwise...</em>
</p><p>He could probably add to that truth, another absolute conviction, and that was that she always <em>~ always ~</em> had his back. She was always there, caring for him, worrying about him, without ever asking anything from him… And it was with no small amount of shame that Harry had to admit he had been a shitty friend to the girl that had always been there.</p><p>Last year, he had followed Ron and stopped talking to her for months because of what was now called the “broom incident,” and he had let her deal alone with the harassment and borderline bullying behaviour of his own House...<em>Scratch that</em>, there was no “borderline”, they were bullies, period. And on top of that, they had done it relentlessly on his behalf for a sport’s game, while she was trying - like always - to make sure he was safe. And who could blame her after the incidents in their first and second year? When it wasn’t a teacher trying to kill him, it was Dobby wanting to “only” maim him or injure him…</p><p>And when THAT was done, Harry had stood by doing nothing to defend her when Ron was accusing Crookshanks of hurting his rat, and blaming Hermione once again... and Harry himself had had the nerve to ask her to keep her cat in her dorms to placate his ginger best friend.</p><p>
  <em>Blimey, I’m a git...</em>
</p><p>Yes, Hermione Granger was the most important person in his life… Which was why he was deeply saddened by the fact that he had no other option but to strangle her to death… <em>Obviously</em>.</p><p>There was no other choice.</p><p>Because Merlin’s saggy balls, what the bloody hell had she been thinking?</p><p>Slytherin! Asking Snape...SNAPE! As in the dungeon bat that hated him. As in the man that found every opportunity to humiliate them. As in the Professor that had been bullying them for years.</p><p>Harry’s anxiety had nothing to do, of course, with the fact that after a night in Snape’s quarters, he was now standing in front of said Professor, his new Head of House, and the man had been looking at him, gaping like a fish, opening and closing his mouth repeatedly for the past ten minutes.</p><p>Harry was obviously in an alternate universe… Right? <em>RIGHT?</em></p><p>“I…Potter, I am not sure I heard correctly. What -what was that?”</p><p>“Well,” Harry shifted on this spot, unsettled by the dark eyes narrowing and eyeing him suspiciously, “you said that as a new student of yours, you are required to inform my legal guardians to the change of House and that their charge is now involved in a dangerous and possibly deadly tournament.”</p><p>“Yes, Mr Potter, unlike the dunderheads from your former House, I am actually capable of remembering something that happened mere minutes ago, what I am asking of you is to repeat your answer.”</p><p>Harry barely refrained himself from rolling his eyes. He wasn’t actually sure Snape wouldn’t punish him for it.</p><p>Forget the fact that being a Slytherin supposedly made him immune to it now, the man in front of him positively hated him, that wasn’t about to change because his red and gold tie had transfigured into a silver and green one as soon as Harry had put them on.</p><p>“I said,” he answered again, slowly, wondering why Snape seemed to pale even more with each new word, “that unless you wrote to tell them that the tournament actually killed me - to which they would probably pop the champagne - they wouldn’t bloody care, and that’s assuming they would even read it.”</p><p>Apparently, it was still not the answer Snape was looking for.</p><p>Well….where was the lie though?</p><p>Dark stormy eyes met him, with a touch of suspicion, and Snape drawled the words like it physically hurt him even to ask. “And where should I send said letter, exactly? Which Potter’s House has the pleasure to host the Boy-who-lived?”</p><p>Harry flinched reflexively at the title he hated more than anything else, but puzzled by the unexpected question; he answered what he thought was known by the whole teaching staff. “Well, hm- my aunt, that is to say, my mother had a sister, and I was put on their doorsteps after- well, after,” he stuttered, lifting one shoulder uncomfortably to his ear.</p><p>
  <em>Well, I killed Snape...</em>
</p><p>The man paled so fast - any colours draining from his face - that Harry took a step back.</p><p>Little by little, patches of red appeared on Snape’s neck, and Harry started counting to three in his head, waiting for the inevitable explosion he could see coming in his Professor’s features. Years of watching him explode on Neville had prepared him enough to know the cold fury in the man’s eyes wasn’t going to stay silent.</p><p>
  <em>3…</em>
</p><p>
  <em>2…</em>
</p><p>
  <em>1…</em>
</p><p><strong>“PETUNIA!”</strong> the man bellowed, a wave of magic rushing from him, shattering the bottles on the shelves, <strong>“YOU LIVE WITH PETUNIA?”</strong></p><p>“Ye-yeah?” Harry stammered, positively terrified of the man’s ire. “Wait- You know my aunt ?”</p><p>The change was immediate.</p><p>Snape’s face fell, and his eyes darted to his desk where Harry could see his medical report.</p><p>Shaking his head, he turned again and grunted “None of your bloody concern, Potter, let’s talk about the fact that you are now my student. I don’t know how Minerva allowed you to act, but your previous attitude is not going to be accepted here, do you understand me? You will respect your professors and me, and the rules that will be explained to you later by the students in your new House.”</p><p>“Yes, sir.” Harry answered, a flare of stubbornness and rightful anger lighting in his eyes, “I have never disrespected Professor McGonagall or my Professors..”</p><p>“And where was that same respect when it came to your Potion Professor, Potter?” Snape sneered, his usual disgust shining in his eyes, “Why was I not granted the-”</p><p>“At the same level as the one you gave me,” Harry answered, lifting his chin and fixing his eyes above his Professor’s shoulder. “From the moment I walked into this school, you made your opinion about me clear when I didn’t even know a thing about you. When it wasn’t being mocked during my first lesson while I was taking notes of what you were saying, it is being looked upon as if I am the dirt under your shoes for a title that I hate more than anything, so, you will excuse me Professor” Harry sneered mockingly, “if I do not tend to show you that kind of respect.”</p><p>“The hero of our Wizarding world doesn’t like his title! Fake modesty will get you nowhere,” he snarled back, and Harry flinched away from the hate and disgust in Snape’s voice. “Is it not good enough? The hero who conquered would be better maybe? The boy-who-lived do-”</p><p><strong>“While his parents died!”</strong> Harry screamed, anger and hurt, and the wound of Ron’s betrayal and words raw in his chest, making him lose control. “The boy-who-lived means nothing to me! Until I was 11, I didn’t even know a thing about magic and was told repeatedly that my parents died in a drunk car accident! The “boy-who-lived”,” he snarled mockingly, “is a constant reminder of the fact that my parents didn’t, that I will never know them and that it is the reason I live with the Dursleys.”</p><p>Silence.</p><p>Keeping his eyes on the floor, Harry lifted his sleeves to dry the tears that had escaped.</p><p>“Right,” Snape drawled quietly, without any real emotions behind the words. He averted his eyes, anger slipping from his feature to be replaced by a blank mask that Harry was used to but when he turned, his eyes were softer. “Come along, Mr Potter. Let’s explain this development to your new House.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>***</strong>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Malfoy was the only one silent.</p><p>Between the protests, screams of confusion and disbelief, and demands for answers...the blond didn’t talk but kept looking at him. A fact that hadn’t escaped Harry’s notice.</p><p>“<strong>ENOUGH!</strong>” Snape bellowed, “I will not tolerate any of this attitude! Mr Potter has been sorted again after events of last night, and certain behaviours from Gryffindor’s students have made clear that his safety is at risk. Rest assured he is now as much a Slytherin student as any of you are!”</p><p>Surprised by the Professor’s words, Harry dipped his chin and thanked him quietly. The older man nodded and turned his eyes to Malfoy, raising an eyebrow with a questioning look.</p><p>Malfoy nodded and looked back at Harry, waiting for Snape to leave the room. When their Head of House was gone, intense chatters started again, and this time, Malfoy intervened.</p><p>“Quiet,” the blond sneered from his place on the couch, elbows propped on his knees with his face on his palm, and the room quieted immediately. “Do you not recognize the chance that is being given to us. You have all been despairing for years of our place in this school and the views of the Wizarding world on our House, this is a chance to change it, and you want to act like children,” he spat, silver eyes roaming over his schoolmates.</p><p>“But Drakey,” a girl with black hair that Harry recognized as being Pansy Parkinson whined as she wrapped her fingers around Malfoy’s arm and tugged on his sleeves, “it’s Potter! In our House!”</p><p>“Shut up, Pansy,” a quiet voice cut the shrill sound coming out of Pansy’s mouth, and Harry turned to look at the dark-skinned boy standing behind him.</p><p>Chocolate eyes met him, and Harry gulped, smiling slightly, uncertain.</p><p>The boy smiled back in return and extended his hand “Blaise Zabini, welcome to Slytherin!”</p><p>From the corner of his eyes, Harry saw Malfoy pushing the girl back and straightening his clothes. Ignoring the whine coming out of Pansy’s mouth, Harry shook the boy’s hand, thanking him, and followed him as he let Blaise introduce him to the other students.</p><p>“Draco usually takes care of the baby snakes,” he said quietly, bending to Harry’s ear so he would be the only one to hear the words. “He’s very protective of them, so he is going to be the one who explains the rules to you.”</p><p>“There are rules?” Harry asked, incredulously, trying to ignore the shivers of awareness on his back where Blaise’s hand was resting, pushing him gently forward.</p><p>“Of course, there are rules, Potter.” Malfoy smirked, “I told you to be careful with the ones you chose to associate on our first day, looks like I was right.” He gestured to the bruises under Harry’s eye and on his lips, and Harry bristled, ready to defend at least one of his best friend but the blond kept talking.</p><p>“So, here is the first rule. We take care of our own. That means we keep the internal conflict away if we can, and if there is ever a conflict between two members, you don’t take it outside of the House. Outside it doesn’t exist. You don’t give the rest of the school a chance to notice any breach in our unity. It will only make their harassment worse- second rule: you don’t walk alone in the corridors. Slytherins always move in groups, or you always stay with at least one of us, it makes it more difficult for the other students to hex us for being “followers of Dark Magic” or whatever other rot they associate with our House,” he drawled while rolling his eyes and chuckles erupted in the room.</p><p>Concealing his surprise, because “unity” was undoubtedly the last thing Harry had expected, he nodded his head, remembering Hermione’s words from the night before. Shame filled him once again when he recalled the way she had asked him to put aside any prejudice he could have for a House he didn’t know a thing apart for the words coming out of Ron’s mouth and he had bristled, wanting to deny being prejudiced himself.</p><p>
  <em>Looks like she was right, again.</em>
</p><p>“Another thing,” Malfoy sneered, but there wasn’t any hate behind the words and Harry wondered if it was the only way the blond knew how to expressed himself. “We are going to expect you to win the Cup, the impact your win could have for Slytherin House is unparalleled and is certainly not a chance we are going to pass. So, you will benefit from our help from now on.”</p><p>“Hermione will help me too,” Harry assured but smiled to show he appreciated the help offered.</p><p>“That’s another issue-” Draco scowled, but Harry interrupted immediately.</p><p>“Hermione is my friend, be careful what you-”</p><p>“Don’t delude yourself, Potter, you’re a Slytherin now, the mud- Granger won’t be your friend anymore, you only have us.”</p><p>“Hermione is my best friend. She was the one who suggested Slytherin House, and she has never once said something against your House. I won’t push her away to please someone else. I did that enough.”</p><p>Draco flinched, and his jaw fell, “She- she never? Nevermind that, what I was actually going to say is that from now on, you can’t rely on her to do your homework, it won’t reflect well on our House. Each one of us works hard for our grades, we study every evening either here or in the library, and you are welcome to join us, but we won’t do the work for you.”</p><p>Words of denial were on the tips of his tongue, but Harry couldn’t even muster enough strength to get them out.</p><p>Even the other students had noticed how she was always there to pick up their slacking job? Merlin, if that didn’t make him feel like shit…</p><p>
  <em>I swear to Merlin, I’m going to make this right to you, Hermione.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Make an effort, Harry, ok? It’s going to be alright if you just take a chance…”</em>
</p><p>Right.</p><p>Right! She said it the night before, and Hermione Granger was never wrong.</p><p>With a shake of his head, Harry extended his hand, feeling entirely foolish, and looked Malfoy right in the eyes “Hi! My name is Harry Potter, and I hear you can help me understand the school and this world, please to meet you.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*</strong>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>« HAD-, » the name escaped her lips in a choked sound, like a plea for the life of her heart, and Hermione’s eyes popped open to a heartbeat going a million miles per hour.</p><p>Panting raggedly, she shot up in her bed, gasping and struggling to breathe as she pulled herself out of the darkness and nightmares, frozen images and feelings of loss drowning her and breaking her heart.</p><p>
  <em>It was just a nightmare. Just a nightmare.</em>
</p><p>Except, it wasn’t.</p><p>Closing her eyes to center herself, Hermione let out a ragged breath, trying to push away the memories of a life she so dearly missed and of a companion she needed now more than ever.</p><p>Like always, it didn’t work.</p><p>This time - on top of the twinkly smug victorious eyes she had memorized over and over - images of Dumbledore’s furious and suspicious eyes swam in her mind, and Hermione opened her eyes, panicked, only to be greeted by the sight of the red curtain on her canopy bed. Trying to rein her racing heart, she picked her head up and pushed off the bed, absently scratching Crookshanks between his ears to soothe the concern in his eyes.</p><p>“Harry is a champion,” she whispered in the room, recalling the events of the previous evening, the ones that kept repeating again and again in her mind the whole night. “Merlin, Harry is a champion, and I started… Alright, breathe Hermione, breathe!”</p><p>She shook her head, piling her hair on the top of her hair with a twist of her wand. “Got to plan, got to think. This changes everything.”</p><p>And it did.</p><p>Hermione “Granger” was nothing if not always prepared, thank you very much.</p><p>From her third birthday party to the day she had been accepted into Hogwarts, Hermione had planned every little step of her life. It was, after all, expected of her, and she had a precise role to play in her world.</p><p>And all was going quite well and according to plan.</p><p>Until Hogwarts.</p><p>Because Hermione hadn’t been prepared for Albus Dumbledore.</p><p>Admittedly, it wasn’t a very bright move on her part considering the reason she was there, and Hermione had spent every night since she had started school, berating herself for this lack of judgment.</p><p>She had known the man was powerful.</p><p>She had known he was at the centre of almost every political decision made in Britain.</p><p>She also knew he was the very public image for the “greater good” and the “Light” side of Magic….if there ever was such magic.</p><p>But what Hermione had failed to account on back then, was that the Headmaster of her new school was - for lack of better word - a pile of dragon dung shit.</p><p>In one flick of his wand and with twinkly smug eyes and a condescending smile that Hermione had sworn revenge on, Albus Dumbledore had changed her life and inflicted what could only amount to torture on the very essence of what made her….her.</p><p>It was an entirely foreign feeling to be forced to say that she missed herself… instead, she was forced to be this shell of a girl, chained into a prison made of magic that hurt the essence of her core.</p><p>
  <strong> <em>Mudblood.</em> </strong>
</p><p>This... she hadn’t seen coming either and therefore hadn’t been prepared for.</p><p>She hadn’t been prepared for the mocking and the taunting, and the slurs and hate.</p><p>As for the other side of the insults… well, like any woman in the world, Hermione was used to being overlooked or underestimated. So, it had hardly been a surprise to her when the Hogwarts students had fallen into the same habit and mockingly nicknamed her the “bookworm,” or the “swot.” Even as a toddler, Hermione was a bright and bubbly girl and when she had begun to read, that had turned into an enthusiasm for learning. Driven, well-read, witty, intelligent, ambitious were words she was proud to have associated with her name.... but apparently, the students of this wizarding school disagreed.</p><p>How anyone could consider seeking excellence as a fault and something to mock was beyond her, and she had absolutely no wish to lose her time on petty comments and childish behaviour.</p><p>No...What had been hard to deal with were the insults on her supposed “dirty” heritage… Granted….it wasn’t-</p><p>“Merlin, Granger! Could you stop moving around, we are trying to sleep here!” Lavender mumbled from her bed, rattling the curtains to gain her attention.</p><p>Murmuring her apologies in the dark, Hermione rolled out of bed, paddling on bare feet to the bathroom, and turned the shower on.</p><p><em>Right. Think,</em> she repeated to herself, while layered conditioner on her hair. <em>How does it change anything?</em></p><p>Hermione was nothing if not cautious.</p><p>Three years of respecting the rules - more or less - of binding her time, making contingencies plans. Of waiting, plotting, hurting, and finally, she had an opportunity.</p><p>She hadn’t known the TriWizard tournament was happening, but Madame Maxime presence was a gift from Merlin if there ever was one. Hermione had known instantly that it was her chance, and she had been strategizing ever since on the best way to end this charade she was forced to live through.</p><p>It should have taken a few months, at least, because she wanted to be subtle and avoid any suspicion from Dumbledore. But then Harry had been chosen by the Cup, and every plan she had made had flown right out the windows.</p><p>
  <em>Like always when it came to him.</em>
</p><p>Because Hermione Granger had one brother.</p><p>Oh, they didn’t share any blood or family, but it didn’t make her love for him any less real. And if she was to take risks with her life this year, she at least wanted to help Harry gain something in this.</p><p>Harry was...<em>hers</em>.</p><p>Magically, emotionally, utterly, completely, in a way that he hadn’t even realize yet but that she would make sure he did one day.</p><p>And she was fiercely protective of him.</p><p>It had broken her heart in her first year when Ron had laughed while recalling the way Harry seemed to be surprised by the presence of gifts on Christmas morning. He had found it funny that Harry was still surprised by what magic could do, but Hermione knew the truth.</p><p>Ronald was so used to knowing what it was to be loved and growing up with people that cared that he hadn’t realised what was really happening. He hadn’t seen the way Harry would flinch and hide it quickly at any sudden movement in his direction. Or the way he would stay still when given any gesture of affection, mainly her hugs, and then melt in her arms with the starved enthusiasm of a child that had been touch-deprived his whole life.</p><p>And now, that idiotic ginger bully had dared use every insecurity Harry had against him in order to hide his own. Well, it was absolutely unacceptable, and Hermione wouldn’t stand for it.</p><p>Slytherin had been an obvious choice.</p><p>Not that Harry would have made a bad Ravenclaw, but it would have been challenging considering his complete lack of enthusiast to commit to his lessons. Hufflepuff was definitely out of question too, Cedric having been chosen as a Champion, it would only have created conflicts in a House that prided itself on not having any.</p><p>Those were pretty excuses, though.</p><p>Slytherin was the place for him, and she knew it.</p><p>
  <em>Her magic never lied.</em>
</p><p>She was a little worried for him, but also paradoxically, extremely relieved. Putting aside any personal conflicts she had with members of their House, particularly a blond boy who lived to mock her and see her dead, the Slytherins were nothing if not loyal, tightly close and supportive of their own.</p><p>Harry was going to be safe there like she knew he would be.</p><p>Slytherins were also less judgmental of their own, which was bloody ironic to her because she had to deal with their judgments daily. But there, Harry would be free to be himself. He was now under the care of someone who would not let himself be fooled or swayed by Dumbledore in a way Professor McGonagall always did.</p><p>And he was far away from Ginny Weasley.</p><p><em>AH! Oh, that was going to be awful,</em> Hermione thought, drying herself and braiding her hair to avoid the curls she still didn’t know how to tame after four years.</p><p>The red-head girl was a power, fame-hungry fangirl if there ever was one, and wasn’t going to react well to the object of her obsession being in another House. Hermione had caught her eyeing Harry and researching potions a little too excitedly lately. Jealousy, devotion, lust...Hermione had, since then, tried very hard to check every piece of food Harry ingested.</p><p>
  <em>It was a nightmare…</em>
</p><p>Her jealousy of every other girl in Harry’s life was also unparallel and made Hermione laugh every time she thought about it. Though she was pretty sure she was the only one who had noticed the fact that Harry wasn’t attracted to the fairer sex, but the very lean and muscular build of a certain Slytherin.</p><p>As long as it wasn’t Ronald, Hermione didn’t give a damn, and she was pretty satisfied with herself for getting Harry closer to the dark-skinned boy.</p><p>Yes...Lots of changes already.</p><p>And it was just the start.</p><p>The Triwizard tournament was her golden ticket out of the hell she was living in.</p><p>It was also a nightmare she was convinced was going to get worse before it got better, she thought while descending the stairs leading to the Great Hall to eat her breakfast.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>***</strong>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Ronald Weasly was a pig.</p><p>Maybe one day, Hermione would be able to stop repeating it in her mind every morning she sat at the same table he did, but that day was not today.</p><p>She had been drowning herself in her readings, and pointedly ignoring the piercing eyes of her Headmaster, when her second “best friend” finally arrived for breakfast.</p><p>Ron had been there for two minutes, and he was already stuffing his face with eggs and ham while loudly proclaiming to everyone around him that he had set the traitor straight and that “Gryffindor House didn’t support him” to the nods of the rest of the students.</p><p>
  <em>I hate it … Bunch of hypocrites, lying, fake arseh-</em>
</p><p>So, it was with a lot of glee and a twinge of nervousness that Hermione watched Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall step in front of the teacher’s table, calling out for the students to stay silent.</p><p>“Yesterday, and for the first time in my life, I admitted to myself that I was ashamed of being associated with House Gryffindor,” McGonagall started in a voice that still trembled with rage and Hermione noticed immediately the shock coursing through the students.</p><p>Fixing her stern gaze on the other Houses, she continued “I am, however, not pleased with any Houses right now. Yesterday, two of our own were sorted into a dangerous Tournament that could cost their lives. It has been brought to the staff’s attention that the first reaction of our students was to insult Mr Potter and his House, and the first reaction of his House was to stand while a boy who called himself his best friend used violence in the most barbaric way to avenge the so-called honour of my House, forcing Mr Potter to asked to be sorted again by the Sorting Hat. Something that hadn’t happened since 1759! I am positively ashamed of your reactions!” she sneered in a display so similar with Snape that the students flinched.</p><p>“Mr Potter, come here,” Snape drawled, his dark eyes focused on the boy standing near the door behind their table, though they kept flickering to her.</p><p>And finally, Hermione got her first good look at her best friend in his new uniform.</p><p>Uncertain, worried eyes lifted and immediately locked with hers, and she smiled back, trying to convey strength and love through her eyes to support the boy who seemed like he was going to pass out.</p><p>Relief crossing his face, Harry nodded and smiled back, straightening his shoulders to stand tall. It had the unfortunate results to attract attention to his new green and silver tie and screams immediately exploded in the room.</p><p><strong>“TRAITOR!”</strong> Ron spat, eggs flying from his mouth, “I bloody told you all! We don’t want you anyway, Potter! Nobody likes a cheater!”</p><p>Hermione didn’t have the time to hex him.</p><p>Snape was already there.</p><p>And it was brilliant.</p><p>Snape wasn’t loved like McGonagall was, but he was feared and respected by the students, and no one was foolish enough to contradict the man if they ever had to face him.</p><p>It was exactly what she wanted.</p><p><strong>“SILENCE!”</strong> He snarled, fury etched in his features and his eyes tightening with anger, “Mr Weasley, detention tonight with me! And you will do well to keep your mouth shut.”</p><p>“Mr Potter has a few words for you all, and you will listen and act like students and not wild animals, do I make myself clear?” McGonagall said, eyeing every table before she turned to Harry and smiled sadly. “Your turn, Mr Potter.”</p><p>Harry eyed the table of Slytherin House, and she noticed the way Zabini and Malfoy nodded to him, but his shoulders were still tensed, and Hermione was ready when her best friend turned to her.</p><p>Keeping his eyes locked with hers, he lifted his wand, pointing it to the ceiling and repeating the word she had hoped he had been able to learn the night before while seeking comfort in her eyes.</p><p>“I, Harry James Potter, swear on my Magic that I did not enter the Wizarding Competition known as the TriWizard Tournament, nor did I required, hired, or sought help from anyone to do so, or had any wish to be sorted as a champion. I swear on my magic that I recognize Cedric Diggory as Hogwarts Champion only. May Magic bless my purpose. May Magic judge my word. May Magic sentence my lies. So I say. So mote it be,” he recited, and slashed his hand up, shouting: “<strong>Expecto Patronum!</strong>”</p><p>Light burst from his wand, illuminating the Great Hall and Prongs appeared, running directly to her, filling her with warmth before disappearing in the clouds of the ceilings.</p><p>Heaven.</p><p>It was Heaven and Hell at the same time.</p><p>Gryffindor House seemed to shrink on itself and furious eyes turned on Ronald Weasley. Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs looked bewildered and apologetic. Slytherins looked victorious, and Albus Dumbledore seemed to be choking on his rage while trying to keep his fake smile plastered on his face.</p><p>It took everything she had to not burst out laughing and she barely refrained from applauding. Instead, Hermione smothered her smile and winked at Harry, tilting her head to the doors to tell him they would talk after.</p><p>She didn’t notice the silver eyes looking at her from across the room.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>***</strong>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>“That was terrifying,” Harry whispered while walking through the corridors next to her, their arms linked tightly together.</p><p>She hadn’t let him go of him since the moment she was finally able to hug him again. The hesitation and worry in his eyes had killed her as she had known he would be afraid of her reactions, but she intended to prove to him that his uniform didn’t change a thing for her.</p><p>And if that meant walking a few steps away from Malfoy, then so be it.</p><p>“Why couldn’t we do this with Padfoot last year, Mione?”</p><p>“Because Magical’Oaths have intent, they are not something to treat with lightly. We could have made oaths claiming his innocence, but it wouldn’t have mattered because even if we were convinced he was innocent, our truth would have made no difference to them because it could have been different from his.”</p><p>“I don’t understand.”</p><p>“Well, it’s simple actually. Our truth from that night was that he was innocent, right?”</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>“Professor Snape truth would have been that he was there to hurt us. Or Petti- Wormtail’truth would have been that he was threatened and Padfoot was dangerous. It’s just...it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t come from Padfoot, Harry. A murderer could still make an oath that his crime was made under duress or because he thought he needed to defend himself. Words make the difference, in a trial it isn’t enough, Veritaserum is needed, and Padfoot never had a trial. For students and this purpose, your oath is enough. Your magic is too young and still unstable to be able to detect and change its intent. If you had lied even by omission or about your intentions, even if you were fully convinced of your lie, Magic would have punished you, and you would have been a squib.”</p><p>“Merlin, and you thought it was a good idea? I joked with R-,” he swallowed heavily and shook his head, “about being in the Tournament and wanting to gain fame like that, Hermione.”</p><p>“Yes, but you never meant it, he did. You just followed him, like you always did,” she shrugged.</p><p>Harry flinched, “I’m sorry.”</p><p>“What?” Hermione asked, bewildered, and stopped on the side of the hallway, tilting her head to look at him.</p><p>“We’ll talk about it later, ok? But I just- I was forced to face a few truths about myself last night, and I didn’t like what I found. But later, ok? We’re gonna be late for Potions and Snape is my new Head of House, I don’t want to mess up.”</p><p>“Yeah, ok,” she nodded, “how was your new House by the way and your new Common Room?”</p><p>“Well, they were mostly great, actually. Parkinson is NOT happy, let me tell you this, but Zabini and Malfoy explained the rules to me, and then we just hanged around while waiting for the right time to leave together. As for the common room, it’s the same as when...well you know, but in the end, there was-” he hesitated, one hand scratching his scar and his right arm wrapping around her shoulders like he always did when he didn’t want anyone to overhear him.</p><p>Concern made her tense immediately, and she asked “What? What is it? Is something wrong?”</p><p>“I don’t know ‘Mione, I just…. There was something weird in the common room and it bothered me,” he replied.</p><p>“Like something that made your scar react?”</p><p>“No, just,” he lowered his voice, casting furtive glances to the side to make sure no one could hear him while they walked, “remember, in Second Year when I could hear the basilisk in the castle? It...It feels like there is a snake in their… in my common room. A snake, like alive you know, but I tried to call for him, and he wouldn’t answer, he doesn’t seem to talk, and I can’t pinpoint exactly where he is, and it’s not exactly speaking to me.”</p><p>“What...What do you mean? How can you hear him if he’s not speaking?” she stuttered, trying to look confident and so so grateful for the fact that Harry was oblivious to the way she had blanched and slowed down.</p><p>“Well, it’s not speaking, but it’s...hissing? I don’t know ‘Mione, it sounds like he is in pain. Like a really really awful mourning sound. I get the feeling that he is seeking and longing for something, but I don’t know what it is. It feels like torture, honestly, and it makes me hurt,” he whispered and then shook his head, continuing on his path to get to their lesson.</p><p>And if Harry had looked back, he would have seen the way she stopped dead in her tracks.</p><p>He would have seen the despair in her eyes.</p><p>The hurt, the longing.</p><p>The way her hands shook.</p><p>The silent tears racing down the curve of her cheeks.</p><p>But when she caught up to him, mere seconds later, Hermione Granger was smiling again, tripping down on her feet and accepting his playful rebuke at the weight of her bag filled with books, pushing aside the way her heart ached and called for one of its counterpart, hidden in the depths of the castle.</p><p>
  <em>Soon, Hades, soon….</em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hello everyone, I am really sorry for the delay. My health issues are really kicking the life out of me right now, that and COVID are definitely NOT good for my depression and creativity. 2020 is a black hole of hell and I can't wait for it to be over!<br/>That being said, I have been having a ton of ideas for this story lately, and keep writing little notes everwhere around my House, so I am hoping *crossing my fingers really hard* that I won't make you wait as long for the next chapter.</p><p>I hope you are all safe and feeling good, and I hope you enjoy this chapter! I would love to read your comments and theories. I will just say, I am taking a very traditional and old turn on Magic, and I am loving it!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <strong> ~ Chapter 3 ~ Dragons, Dances and Bullies</strong>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>“You want to- You want to outfly a dragon?” Hermione stuttered, paling and gaping while looking at Harry as if he had just said the stupidest thing in the world.</p><p>Which she thought was fair…. because it was. </p><p>“Mad-eye said to use the thing I am best at, and I think I am the strongest on a broom! Why are you looking at me like that? ‘Mione,” he whined, “it’s not that bad of an idea!”</p><p>Again...Yes. Yes, it really was.</p><p>“Padfoot thinks it’s a great idea!”</p><p><em> Of course, he does</em>, and this time Hermione couldn’t quite contain the eye roll that had wanted to escape since the beginning of their conversation. The Marauder probably considered it to be the biggest joke and thrill ever, nevermind the fact that it was absolutely insane.</p><p>A little smile lifted the corner of Hermione’s lips as she watched Harry rambled on and on about his godfather. Despite her personal issues with the older Animagus, and Hermione had a lot of them, she was more than happy with the way Harry’s face lit up every time he talked about the man.</p><p>She knew that Harry had been afraid of his godfather‘s reaction after his re-sorting and she also knew that a part of him had already been prepared for the older man’s rejection. So he had been more than ecstatic when Sirius’s reply had been supportive, slightly teasing but always loving. </p><p>And if he never found out that Hermione had sent a letter immediately after the announcement in the Great Hall, threatening bodily harm on the ex-convict if he ever made Harry feel bad about his new House and the new turn in his life… then it was all the better. </p><p>“It’s not exactly a bad idea,” Hermione conceded, lying through her teeth, “for someone that is used to this. Harry...even Charlie Weasley gets burns and nearly fatal injuries every week! You heard Mrs Weasley complain about it even more than I did….and it’s his job! Why do you think you can do it and go through it without hurting yourself when even he can’t?” She exclaimed, her voice turning a little shrill with her anxiety. </p><p>“Look,” she said, her voice softening when she saw the hurt in his eyes, “I am not saying you are not the best on a broom-”</p><p>“Then what are you saying?” he asked, his eyes glittering harshly, and she tried very hard not to flinch and start crying at the anger and betrayal in his eyes.</p><p>She was tired.</p><p>So damn tired.</p><p>It was now two weeks before the First Task, and life was...hell. </p><p>When Hermione had predicted that it would worsen before it got better, she had been right. </p><p>But, for the first time in her life, she really wished she had been wrong.</p><p>Because she had also grossly underestimated how worse it would get. </p><p>It had started slowly. </p><p>Without Harry by her side, she was ostracised and isolated in her own House again. Nobody talked to her; nobody looked at her, except a few eye rolls when she answered correctly in class. She was, for the most part, ignored every day. The only contacts she had were the few hours with Harry in the library every other evening, and the few hugs exchanged when he saw her in the corridors. </p><p>His new promise of being good to her and not letting her down for other friends had lasted all of two weeks…. Oh! He wasn’t ostracizing her, but he wasn’t looking for her either. In fact, he was bending over backwards to try and make friends with the people from his House…. And she couldn’t even begrudge him this, because she understood how deeply he wanted to belong to something….If anything, she felt more furious than anything… The Dursleys had a reckoning planned in her near future if she had anything to say about it. </p><p>So….apart from the fact that she missed him like a limb being pulled away from her….the rest was fine with her. </p><p>It was actually more than fine. </p><p>Give her a book, and no one berating her readings and thoughts every day, and it was heaven.</p><p>But then it took a turn for the worse. </p><p>Gryffindor’s House had taken a fall and lost their Wonder Boy, and for a while, everyone had turned on Ronald. He wasn’t exactly bullied for the simple fact that no one was stupid enough to risk the wrath of the Weasley’Twins…. but he wasn’t glorified, and that was simply something he couldn’t seem to be able to accept. And whatever issues she had with Ron herself, and no matter how bad of a friend she thought he was to Harry...he wasn’t exactly stupid. </p><p>
  <em> Debatable…. </em>
</p><p>Alright, scratch that...He wasn’t incapable of thinking logically from time to time….Was that better?</p><p>
  <em> Slightly…. </em>
</p><p>He was actually a pretty fine strategist when he wanted to, and putting two and two together; he had quickly deduced that she was the one responsible for Harry leaving Gryffindor. </p><p>Nevermind his bullying, nevermind the words and insults and violence he had unleashed on his supposed best friend, nevermind the fact that none of them had even tried to protect and defend the boy they were now claiming they missed...she was the last one seen with him before his re-sorting, so she was responsible. </p><p>And then it was Third-year and the broom incident all over again, but much much worse. </p><p>The taunting, mocking, and insults every day. </p><p>The quiet disdain that wasn’t so quiet anymore. </p><p>Adding to that the increased interest and overbearing suspicion from Dumbledore, the sneaky curiosity and searching looks from Professor Snape, Malfoy’s eyes following her everywhere, and the disdain of his House every time she was near Harry in front of them and the pain every night from...</p><p>Yes, Hermione was tired. </p><p>But it didn’t matter. </p><p>Because Harry was flourishing.</p><p>Physically, emotionally, and even in his studies, his life kept improving and that was all she needed. And every time she had doubts, every time she wanted to scream and just go home and declare herself defeated, she just had to look at the other end of the Great Hall every morning. She just had to watch him take the nutrient potion that Snape had sneakily declared obligatory, the one Harry kept complaining about. She just had to notice every day how his cheeks and body filled up, his height even increasing a little bit, and if the healthy glow in his cheek wasn’t enough, the way he moved around, less fragile and afraid….it made it all worth it.</p><p>It didn’t, however, make it easier.</p><p>Inhaling deeply to try to keep the frustration out of her voice, she softened her voice, “Look, if anyone can do it on a broom it’s you, you are the best flyer in this school and everybody knows that! But this Tournament is not a Quidditch Match, and it is not going to be a fall that could kill you, it’s going to be a huge beast with wings that spits fire and has teeth the size of your broom!”</p><p>Harry deflated, his shoulders slumping, as he mocked “So, what are you suggesting exactly? Should I try a Wingardium Leviosa on its arse like we did with the Troll or maybe sing it a song so that it falls to sleep?”</p><p>Hesitantly, Hermione whispered, “there is one last monster you faced…”</p><p>“Yeah, a giant basil-” Harry laughed, paling when he saw her face, “Oh, no! No! No! What the bloody fuck, Hermione! You want me to- to-” he stuttered, “talk to a dragon? Have you completely lost your mind?”</p><p>“No! I have been researching dragons and-” </p><p>“Yes,” he dragged the word, rolling his eyes, “and does one of those books tell you how to beat them, or do you want me to test it out for the first time in front of the whole school?”</p><p>“No, not how to beat them. How to understand them. Harry, they’re reptiles just like the Basilisk was! Flying is already going to be Krum’s strength, you’ve seen him parading around with his broom all the time, do you think it is a coincidence? However, no one in this castle and actually no one registered in England can do what you do! Parselmouth is a talent, one you are the only one to control!”</p><p>Harry gaped, gesturing wildly around him, “Parselmouth is associated with Dark Wizards, or do you not remember our Second Year!”</p><p>“Harry, please, please, trust me on this! It is just a skill, not Dark Magic or whatever you want to call it!”</p><p>“I can talk to snakes, ‘Mione! That’s not exactly Light! Voldemort could do it!”</p><p>“For the love of Merlin!” she spat, throwing her hands in the air and closing her book, “I would have thought that after being sorted into their House and making friends with Slytherins, you would be more open-minded! A snake is just an animal, not the representation of Dark Magic! For the love of Merlin, what exactly do you consider Light then? And are you saying that you won’t do anything that a Dark Wizard did? Because I am sorry to tell you, but V- Voldemort probably learned Wingardium Leviosa in his first year too! And the spell to clean your teeth, and make your bed….That one is obviously very very dark, of course, I shudder to imagine what it can do! No wonder Ronald never uses it.”</p><p>“Dumbledore said-”</p><p>“Harry,” she said, interrupting him because there was no way in hell she was listening to whatever dragon dung Dumbledore had told him right now, “Parselmagic is the first and most fundamental form of magic used for healing since the age of time, being a Parselmouth is a gift, it doesn’t...it-” she sighed, seeing the stubbornness in the tightening of his jaw, “You trust me right? Can you at least, just-” she hung her head already knowing what was coming but hoping for the best, “just consider my idea, please? Just think about it.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>***</strong>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>He had. </p><p>For approximately two minutes...he had considered it.</p><p>And then he had run to his dormitories, grabbed the mirror that Sirius had sent with a previous letter, and after a flourishing conversation with his godfather who mentioned how proud James would be to see him on a broom, the idea had flown right out of the window….</p><p><em> Probably carried by the broom Harry had decided was his best way to face a Dragon, </em> Hermione thought bitterly, her anxiety rising in her throat as she straightened his clothes and made him repeat again and again the spell she had practised with him for weeks….the one he would be using a mere two hours later to survive a confrontation with a creature that could create a freaking storm with their wings.</p><p>Merlin, there was no way she was making it past twenty years old with a friend like that.</p><p><em> My heart will collapse out of stress way before that... </em> she couldn’t help but think as she clung to Harry, squeezing him in her arms and ignoring the flash of photography and Rita Skeeter’s screeching voice.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <b>***</b>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>“<em> Harry has at least found love at Hogwarts. His close friend, Colin Creevey, says that Harry is rarely seen out of the company of one Hermione Granger… </em>”</strong>
</p><p> </p><p>A groan escaped her mouth as she closed the door of the bathroom behind her and curled under the shower, letting the water drift over her inked curl...a result of a petty act of revenge inflicted by her roommate, the final act after a full day of insults and tauntings and glares filled with disgust.</p><p>
  <em> Hades, please hear me….I need you so so much... </em>
</p><p>A sob bucked in her throat and Hermione wrapped her arms around her knees, her magic flaring inside of her like a wild horse trying to free himself of his restraint.</p><p>
  <em> At least Harry survived the Dragon...only two more tasks...  </em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <b>***</b>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In retrospect, she should have seen it coming. </p><p>Accompanying Viktor to the Yule Ball had been liberating. An entire evening without having to watch her back and a time to be able to talk freely to someone? After months of isolation, it was the best feeling ever, and also very surprising. </p><p>She hadn’t expected Viktor to be someone she could talk to about her interests, and she had been prepared for talks after talks about Quidditch that she was bored of before the ball had even started.</p><p>But the Bulgarian had surprised her with his vast knowledge of Ancient Runes and Arithmancy, his favorite subject at Durmstrang, and they had spent the night exchanging their experiences and views on subjects that had been fascinating to her since a young age. </p><p>So, as she was debating the moon's best position on Beltane and its influence on the moonstone's growth necessary for some extremely specific wards...Hermione hadn’t noticed the reactions around her.</p><p>She hadn’t seen the jealous eyes of her roommates. </p><p>She hadn’t seen the disgust and hate in some of the Slytherins’ eyes. </p><p>Nor had she noticed the widening of Malfoy’s eyes and the way he made sure to always be near them, scowling all night long.</p><p>And she definitely hadn’t witnessed the anger and resentment, mixed with a sort of greed and hunger in Ron’s eyes. She was, however, faced with his insults and his screams and, by the time she had left the Great Hall, her eyes a little more red than they were an hour before, the Fat Lady had only smiled sadly at her and pointed at a corner of the common room...where her personal belongings and clothes had been scattered.</p><p>Gathering her faithful cat in her arms, she had curled herself on the couch, bitten her lips till they bled and hoped her silencing charm would hold when the Old Magik tried to fight again and again….and <em> Merlin...would she ever be free..would it ever stop... </em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <b>***</b>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Apparently not.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong> <em> “HARRY POTTER’S SECRET HEARTACHE” </em> </strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Words after words scattered themselves on Britain’s WizardingWorld's most-read newspaper, painting her as a liar, a girl without honor, a young woman playing with the heart of Two Wizards.</p><p>A hundred letters, a howler from Molly Weasley calling her a scarlet woman to the laugher of her youngest son stuffing his face with bacon, and a final cursed letter filled with Bubotuber pus later….and Hermione was finally dipping her hands into bowls after bowls of healing salve under the watchful eyes of the school nurse, trying to bite down on her rage and control the way her magic wanted to lash out.</p><p>So, by the time she was cornered by Malfoy and a few of his classmates, mere hours later, Hermione was truly and utterly...done. </p><p>“What do you want, Malfoy?” she asked tiredly, her hands, still achy and tender, clutching her wand tightly.</p><p>One of the boys at his side snarled, “Mind how you talk to your betters, Mudblood!</p><p>“You should have known we would be coming for you,” Malfoy said quietly, his jaw clenched tightly and his eyes unsettled as he looked at her, “You’ve humiliated one of our own.” </p><p>“Rita Skeeter will say whatever she needs to sell papers,” Hermione replied, tilting her chin up while shifting on her feet, positioning herself towards the hallway, “I haven’t done anything wrong, and Harry and I are just fine.”</p><p>The blond scowled, his eyes lighting with fire and he snarled, “You shouldn’t even be near him,” and for the life of her, Hermione couldn’t figure out which boy he was talking about, but she didn’t get to ask him as another voice joins them, afraid, stuttering but filled with resolve.</p><p>“G- get away from her!”</p><p>Neville pushed past the little circle made by the Slytherin boys, and stood in front of her, shaking and squaring his shoulders.</p><p>“It's ok, Neville,” Hermione whispered, her hand clinging to his arm, “I’m fine, let’s go!”</p><p>But Malfoy’s eyes had zoned out on the way they touched, on her hand wrapped around Neville’s arm, and his lips lifted in a sneer, his wand slashing in the air almost instantly.</p><p>“Densaugeo,” he screamed, orienting his wand at Neville who ducked, frightened, letting the spell hit her...</p><p>And Hermione’s world erupted with pain. </p><p>Her teeth grew, her face inflated, bruised and swollen, burning her and forcing her on her knees as she rocked herself to try and soothe the ache coursing through her body. </p><p>His magic … it didn’t feel like it should hurt.</p><p>It felt unnatural, awful, and heartbreaking. </p><p>It was fire, and needles and torture and oblivion and chaos and absence of anything else all at once. </p><p>Old Magik and hers and this new offensive spell distorting something that had been containing her for years, torturing her at night.</p><p>She was barely conscient of Snape’s words, just enough to feel another kind of hurt settling in her heart, but not enough to retort. She watched, dazed and aching, as she was transported to the infirmary and the kind nurse bent over her with soothing words.</p><p>
  <em> I’m so tired... </em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <b>***</b>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>“<b>WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?</b>” Harry bellowed, panting after his run through the corridors and ignoring Snape’s presence as he barged in the Common Room.</p><p>“Potter, what on-” Snape started only to be cut by Harry throwing his bag on the floor, his magic vibrating around him in an obvious display of anger.</p><p>“What the bloody fuck is wrong with all of you? Hermione is my friend, how dare you!”</p><p>“We told you, Potter!” Malfoy started stiffly, standing up along with the other members of his House, “Slytherins defend their own, Granger cheated on you, she humiliated you publicly, we couldn’t-”</p><p>“<b>I’M GAY!</b>” Harry screamed, too angry to even realize what he was finally saying out loud, much less who he was telling it too. “I don’t like women! I’ve never have! Hermione is my friend, my best friend, she’s a sister to me! She never betrayed me! And you cursed her to the point of disfiguration! She’s in the infirmary in pain because of you!”</p><p>Malfoy flinched and tensed, swallowing heavily, before opening his mouth again, “Well- be that as it may,” he sneered, “She still went with your enemy! She could have gone with you or anyone else!”</p><p>“Viktor isn’t my enemy! I don’t even want to be in this bloody contest Tournament bullshit! I’m only trying to survive and win it because it seems to matter to all of you! And who the fuck could she have gone with? Gryffindors are making her life a living hell because of me, and the rest of the school won’t even try coming near her because they don’t want to get bullied by the Lions or by all of you, because it’s not a secret you’ve been making school a nightmare for her since first year! And still, she asked me! She asked me if she could go with him and I was happy for her! You spend all your bloody time complaining about lies being told about you, and you seriously decided to believe Rita Skeeter bullshit? That same woman who called me a future Dark Wizard a week ago because I joined your House? Where is your fucking loyalty? You sound like Weasley right now! I bloody told you all that she was my friend!”</p><p>By the end of his screamed out rant, Harry was red faced and shaking, glaring at Draco Malfoy, the boy who had dared use his magic against his best friend. </p><p>The rest of the House was silent, some shame faced, some looking at him with awe, admiring the way his magic moved around him. Zabini was shaking a little, looking more sorry than words could say, and almost pleading, but Harry wasn’t ready to forgive yet. </p><p>His focus was solely on the platinum blond, the boy who had turned completely pale and was trying to force his usual sneer and mask back on his face.</p><p>“Mr Potter,” Snape cut in, “you will do well to remember-”</p><p>“And you!” Harry spit, “What kind of man looks at a child and insults her like you did! <em> “I see no difference” </em> seriously? Judging her looks?” he grimaced, looking at his Head of House with disdain, “How spiteful, petty and immature do you have to be to mock a little girl?” He snarled, bending to pick up his satchel and turning towards the door, intent on going back to be by Hermione’s side. </p><p>“A week of detention, Potter,” came the raspy voice of the Potion’s Professor, slightly strangled and subdued as the door closed behind him.</p><p>“Fuck off,” Harry muttered under his breath, already running through the corridors.</p><p>He barged through the doors of the infirmary, darting forward immediately and ignoring Pomfrey’s scowl, “‘Mione! You ok? Are you still hurting? I can’t believe they did that! I’m so sorr-”</p><p>“I’m fine,” she whispered despite the tears in her eyes, her face swollen looking painful and bruised, and Harry wanted to cry and scream, “where did you run off to?”</p><p>“My House,” he admitted, ignoring her glare.</p><p>“I don’t need you to defend my honor!”</p><p>“And I will do it anyway! They- It hurts me to see you like this,” he sobbed, pressing a hand against his chest without realizing and not noticing the flash of understanding in Hermione’s eyes and the way her glare softened.</p><p>“What did you say to them?”</p><p>“That you didn’t betrayed me, that I didn’t agree with them, that- that Snape is spiteful and petty and immature,” he rambled on, blushing when she choked and spluttered, “and that- hm, well- that I’m- you see,” he stuttered, “that I’m gay.”</p><p>“Oh, Harry!”</p><p>“I’m sorry! I just wanted to make them understand that you would never betray me in that way because I don’t see you that way, but I didn’t mean to say it ever and I’m sorry-”</p><p>“Harry,” a soft hand covered his and Hermione shifted on the bed to look at him, “Why are you apologizing to me?”</p><p>“Because I’m gay? Because I didn’t tell you first? I don’t know,” he bowed his head, shaking on his seat, too afraid to imagine what her rejection would feel like, much less face it while looking at her.</p><p>“Oh, Harry,” she lifted her hand slowly, gently - always tenderly - and pushed back his hair, caressing his head, “I knew it already. And it has never nor will it ever change anything in the way I view you.”</p><p>“What? When?”</p><p>“Well, first year, I don’t know if you realized it but there were only so many times I could catch you looking at Oliver Wood in Quidditch pants without realizing it, really,” she muttered drily, rolling her eyes when he laughed.</p><p>“Well, Oliver’s arse is pretty awesome!” Harry prompts back.</p><p>“Less than Zabini’s though?” She winked and raised one eyebrow.</p><p>“Yeah,” Harry blushed, “that’s one mighty fine arse,” he added dreamily and laughed with her when she couldn’t help but snort back.</p><p>“I’m glad you told me though,” she added when they had calmed down, “It doesn’t change how I view you, but it’s an important step for you I know, and I’m so glad you trusted me enough to tell me.”</p><p>“Yeah...I wanted to tell you first because I don’t know if...Well, I don’t know how everyone is going to react.”</p><p>“Well, magical people aren’t necessarily concerned with that. Relationships in the Wizarding World aren’t only based on looks, but on...well in the Muggle world it would be called compatibility or chemistry, here it’s literally magic,” she shrugged, and winced, “Magic compatibility, magic touch. So you could bound yourself to one woman, or two men, or both or whatever, it is not something that is going to be judged inappropriate. Some will talk about it, and share their opinions but heterosexuality isn’t the norm in this world. There are multiple ways to become parents too, that are condoned and blessed by Magic.”</p><p>“Really?” He asked, his voice shaky with a relief so big he almost collapsed in her arms when she welcomed him in her embrace. “I’m sorry, so sorry.” He sobbed in her arms when she winced, apologizing over and over for the way she had once again been hurt because of him.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <b>***</b>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>“Ms Granger?” the nurse prompted, scowling a little, and Hermione turned her head.</p><p>“He’s asleep,” she whispered back, moving slightly on her side, exposing the sleeping face of her best friend, his arms wrapped around her stomach and his head on her shoulders, tears still clinging to his eyelashes and marking his cheeks.</p><p>“Oh,” Pomfrey softened, “poor dear, he really has too much on his plate!” she added, clicking her tongue, and focusing on Hermione’s face. “Right! Up with you!”</p><p>A pain-relief potion later, two healing spells to soothe the busted lips and the swollen nose, and the school nurse was cursing a storm, shaking her wand as if it had personally offended her.</p><p>“My spell must read this wrong. I don’t understand!”</p><p>“What is it?”</p><p>“I should be able to cancel the effect of the spell... which I did! Your teeth stopped growing! But it should also be able to put you right back to where you were before, like you were never cursed! But this blasting wand isn’t picking up on it...it’s like it has no idea what you look like!” she cursed, shaking her wand and muttering under her breath about having it checked by Ollivander.</p><p>But Hermione wasn’t listening anymore. In fact, it took everything she had in her to not burst out a loud whoop of joy...She didn’t want to jinx it.</p><p>The glamour had been perturbed.</p><p>The glamour….had been…. perturbed.</p><p>Her pulse was pounding in her ears, and she could feel the hysterical laugh in her throat and the tears of relief gathering in her eyes, but she gathered her wits, sent a prayer to Circe and Merlin, and a blessing to Nimue….and innocently asked, “That’s alright! I remember! Could you just let me guide you while you shorten them? I can’t go to the Great Hall like that, you see?” she added with a carefully crafted widening of her eyes and trembling of her lower lips. </p><p>“Of course not!” Pomfrey nodded, patting her on the head. “Alright, dear, guide me! Here?”</p><p>“No...higher.”</p><p>“Here?”</p><p>“No, a little bit higher, they were quite short you see.”</p><p>“Here, then?”</p><p>“Yes!”</p><p>“Well then, this spell is still not working. You don’t look normal to it! Oh, I mean… Merlin, that’s not what I meant, of course! It’s just you look different, dear!”</p><p>Oh….</p><p>
  <em> Perfect. </em>
</p><p>Floating on a cloud,  Hermione woke Harry up, waving his apologies away when he realized he fell asleep on her and started walking towards the Great Hall, her head resting on his shoulders as she scanned her surroundings carefully.</p><p>
  <em> There! </em>
</p><p>Madame Maxime crossed the outside court, Fleur Delacour at her side, her hands moving around her as they discussed with each other.</p><p>Letting her bag crash to the floor, and falling on her knees to pick up her books, apologizing and thanking Harry quite loudly, she watched from the corner of her eyes as Madame Maxime turned her eyes instinctively, looking at them before turning back immediately.</p><p>And then she froze.</p><p>And slowly turned back...her eyes widening, her mouth gaping.</p><p>She took one step forward….two steps back.</p><p>And then stormed away.</p><p>And Hermione smiled, exuberantly gripping Harry’s arm and dragging her with her to the Great Hall for the feast.</p><p>
  <em> Got you! Finally! </em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <b>***</b>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Harry kept glancing at his best friend at the Gryffindor Table.</p><p>Hermione had her head down, and she was playing with her food, ignoring the loud chatter of her House. There was a tension in her shoulders and neck that was visible even from afar, and Harry couldn't help the guilt he felt as he watched her eat slowly.</p><p>He'd been so ashamed of himself when he had realized how badly he had treated her as a friend, but it had nothing on the realization that despite knowing this, he hadn't done much better this year. She'd look exhausted for weeks, and he knew it was because of him. She stayed up late at night trying to find ways to help him or, better yet, get him out of the mess he was in, and he couldn't even remember thanking her.</p><p>Mere hours ago, she was holding him in her arms as he cried tears of relief because she accepted him fully....and yet she was the one he should have been holding, bruised and hurt as she was.</p><p>To top it all, she had clung to him desperately before entering the Great Hall and had hugged him so hard he couldn't breathe, clinging to him and repeating again and again that she loved him, that he needed to know that she loved him, that she would always love him.</p><p>And he hadn't been able to say it back.</p><p>Not that he didn't feel the same way. Not that he loved her less than she did, but did she really want his love? Was his love good for her when it came with... him? His issues and struggles and all that came with being him? So, he'd just stifled a sob and said, "I know." </p><p>And it had been enough for her.</p><p>She never asked him for more than he was ready to give.</p><p>He loved her even more, every time he realized that.</p><p>She was part of him.</p><p>He just hadn't realized yet, how true that was.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>***</strong>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>He had been in the Great Hall, sitting at the Slytherin table, ignoring the way his Housemates were looking at him apologetically for an hour when the big wooden doors crashed open and the giant french Headmistress that quite literally scared the life out of him, stormed through the tables, her fingers pointing at Dumbledore.</p><p>“<b>YOU! </b> <b> <em>COMMENT OSEZ VOUS!?</em> </b> <b>” *</b> </p><p>Flabbergasted, Harry turned his head, searching for his best friend with his eyes, hoping she could share his confusion. </p><p>But, across the room, Hermione wasn’t looking at him.</p><p>And she wasn't playing with her food anymore. </p><p>Instead, her eyes were clinging almost desperately to Madame Maxime’s form as she rounded on Dumbledore.</p><p>And Harry watched, bewildered, as his best friend’s lips lifted with a feral smile and her eyes glinted with satisfaction.</p><p>“<b>HOW DARE YOU?!</b>”</p><p>“Madame Maxime, I have no idea what you are talking about?” the Headmaster said soothingly, standing from his golden sit, “If Hagrid has-”</p><p>“There is a Veela in this school, Albus Dumbledore! A Veela concealed by a glamouring anchoring charm,” the french Headmistress snarled, ignoring the shocked, horrified gasps in the Great Hall, and Harry tried desperately to understand why everyone around him looked horrified and sick. “I felt her an hour ago, and I could not ignore it! I could not! This is a travesty, an insult! I-”</p><p>“<b>Madame Maxime!</b>” Dumbledore rounded the Great Table, his jaw clenched and his eyes blazing with fire, “baseless accusations are not appreciated in this school!”</p><p>“<em> C’est une torture! Aucune Veela ne choisirait ça d’elle même, quelqu’un l’a forcé! </em>” ** the french woman ranted, pointing her fingers at the older Wizard, “I demand the glamour to be lifted!”</p><p>“<b>MADAME MAXIME!</b>” Dumbledore cut her out, his eyes burning with a sort of rage and hate that made Harry queasy. “If a Veela has decided to conceal herself then we must respect her wish,” he added, ignoring the protests and outright disgust in some of the students' eyes, even from his own school. “Furthermore, I think we should reconvene this conversation in my office. You can explain your concerns fully, be assured we will be alone and you will have my full attention. I will take care of whatever matter you seem to be anxious about.”</p><p>“<em> Oh, non, non, non! Pour qui me prenez-vous? Je ne suis pas stupide, espèce de vieux degeneré, </em>”*** Madame Maxime smiled evilly, “I have already sent a Patronus and formal request to the ICW, this meeting will have to be with members of your staff and representants for the school because the ICW is already on their way! Furthermore,” she mocked, “no Veela would ever accept, agree or put herself under a glamour by choice. That you would allow one in your school makes me question your mental capacities, Albus...then again, maybe I should if you claim you didn’t know about this! It is a crime against Magic and torture on the poor creature! This glamour will be lifted per the agreement of 1061 with the ICW, I will make sure of it! And if I am wrong I will eat my hat, I swear this on my Magic! Girl, come with me!” Madame Maxime barked, barely turning but gently holding out her hand for the young woman she had been talking about.</p><p>Dumbledore stuttered with fury, his wand rising as if casting a spell,  but in the stilled shocked silence of the room…</p><p>Hermione Granger stood up.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>*How dare you?</p><p>**It is torture! No Veela would choose this for herself, someone forced this on her!</p><p>***Oh, no, no, no! Who do you take me for? I am not stupid, you old degenerate!</p><p> </p><p>***********************************</p><p>Hi everyone! I hope everybody is doing ok and safe! I think I am back and over with my writing block for this story, but I can't guarantee anything either. For some reasons, this chapter was an absolute nightmare to write because I didn't want to stray away from Canon events and I still wanted my own spin on it.<br/>Lessons learned, time jumps are not something I enjoy writing at all. Hopefully, the next chapters will be easier, I already have so many parts written! </p><p>Hope you enjoyed it! And thank you for all the love and comments, it motivated me a lot ^^ &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h2>
<strong>~ Chapter 4 ~ Old Man and Old Magik</strong> </h2><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p> </p><p>The Great Hall had never seemed as long and as crowded as it did in that instant. </p><p>There were eyes on her every step of the way but Hermione kept hers focused on that outstretched hand beckoning her like a lighthouse for sailors, like salvation concealed between giant fingers belonging to an equally as tall woman with fire in her eyes, ready to defend her.</p><p>Hermione wanted to cry.</p><p>She wanted to scream.</p><p>She wanted to yell her victory and scream her pain away...but she wasn’t free. </p><p>She wasn’t saved yet.</p><p>And that hope that had taken the form of a half-giant woman wasn’t going to be enough to save her if she broke down in front of everyone and stopped thinking. </p><p>So, Hermione pushed everything down like she had done so many times over the years, and she took one step forward, then another, and another, her chin tilted high.</p><p>Slowly, she slipped her hand in Madame Maxime’s hand and relished in the large fingers that closed around her own strongly, pulling her away from the Great Table and leading her through the little door behind it.</p><p>They walked in silence. </p><p>The french Headmistress marched through the corridors, distancing herself from Dumbledore and his Professors, and Hermione could only faintly hear McGonagall asking what was happening and demanding answers. She heard Dumbledore dismissing the other Professors and asking his Potion Master to follow him. McGonagall’s loud snort reverberated in the hallways and their voices disappeared in the hallways as Hermione heard her claiming her status as her Head of House and insisting on accompanying them.</p><p>Slipping into Dumbledore’s office, Madame Maxime pushed her into a chair, took two steps back, and looked at her carefully, her jaw tightening when she obviously found her answer.</p><p>“Can you answer me freely?” she asked rapidly, eyeing the door as she lowered herself to be eye to eye with the younger girl.</p><p>Hermione bit on her lip and shook her head slightly, knowing that writing her reality or talking about it or ...anything really….wasn’t available to her and hadn’t been since she had arrived at the school.</p><p>
  <em> And Merlin only knew how many times she had tried anyway... </em>
</p><p>Maxime’s eyes blazed with fire, and she came closer, “Do I know you?”</p><p>It hurt….<em> Oh Merlin </em>, did it hurt...Hermione’s eyes widened, and a tear leaked, clinging to her lashes, as she bit her tongue against the Magic that was keeping her silent. Pushing away from the chair, she took the french woman’s hand between hers…and squeezed.</p><p>Hard.</p><p><em> Please, please </em> ….she begged with her eyes, and Madame Maxime’s eyes widened, horror painting her face. “ <em> Oh, mon enfant* </em>….Who are you?”</p><p>The door crashed open and Albus Dumbledore strode into his office, a scowling McGonagall following him and Professor Snape ending the line, closing the door behind them and Madame Maxime straightened, muttering under her breath in French.</p><p>The stoic Potion Master positioned himself behind the older man who was fussing and scowling as he pushed his chair back and sat behind his desk, and for the first time since she had been called by the french Headmistress, Hermione observed everyone’s reaction.</p><p>Her Head of House looked absolutely bewildered, lost, confused, and didn’t seem to know which Head of school she should be glaring at. Her eyes also kept darting back to Hermione herself with a puzzled look, trying to see what everyone seemed to be looking for.</p><p>Snape, however, had chosen his spot perfectly behind the Headmaster and Hermione had no doubt he had done so to make sure Dumbledore wouldn’t see any of his reactions. But he wasn’t glaring and eyeing the room around him, and he didn’t look confused, in fact, he didn’t look anywhere other than in her direction. His eyes kept darting over her face, his jaw tightening and his eyes narrowing as if trying to understand what was happening.</p><p>Dumbledore….Dumbledore was a carefully crafted mask of compliance and concern but his glare when he looked at her couldn’t be hidden, “Now, I’m sure this is all a misunderstanding-”</p><p>Madame Maxime clicked her tongue, shaking her head, “This won’t be discussed without the official representatives’ presence, so we can stay silent until they come. I do not want to hear your words, and I assure you, you don’t want to hear mine.”</p><p>“Now, see here, really!” Dumbledore tried to appease but the french woman turned her head to the window. The Headmaster’s eyes flash to Hermione and she stiffened in her chair at the fury building in them, “Ms. Granger, I would greatly appreciate if you could reassure Madame Maxime that nothing here necessi-”</p><p>The sound of the floo system interrupted him before he could get his next words out, saving Hermione from talking. </p><p>A panicked little man that she recognized as Cornelius Fudge stepped out of the floo, followed closely by none other than Lucius Malfoy, sneering and scowling, his cane tapping the floor as he slowly stepped towards them.</p><p>“Albus!” Cornelius called out sharply, shaking a blue scroll, “What is the meaning of this? I have representatives from the International Confederation of Wizards requesting my presence here! They are following me at the moment, what in Merlin’s name is going on?”</p><p>“Cornelius, I apologize for the inconvenience,” Dumbledore smiled with an indulgent twinkle in his eyes, “Lord Malfoy, I do not understand the need for your presence here! It is merely a misunderstanding that I will deal with, no need to be here, I can only imagine what busy men you are without dealing with foolish teenagers' issues.”</p><p>“Rest assured,” Malfoy sneered, “I always have better things than to see you, Chief Warlock,” he added, and his eyes finally landed on Hermione. “I was actually with Lord Parkinson, discussing the betrothal of my son with his daughter,” he seemed to preen with self-importance and smirked at her, “but as a member of the school board, I am required to be here, so here I will be.”</p><p>“But-” </p><p>And oh, Hermione was making herself as small as possible, waiting for all the players to be present before she could start pulling her cards out. But the way Dumbledore was floundering, torn between confusion and anger that his words only weren’t enough and that his plan seemed to be unraveling under his nose...it would have made her laugh if she weren’t sure that her hysterical giggles would turn into a sob of anxiety.</p><p>The floo flashed green once again and three figures stepped out, one by one.</p><p>A tall man, broad shoulders and fists tightened, eyes scanning the room until they landed on her...and stayed. </p><p>Another slightly smaller man, leaner, wearing the ICW badge on his chest, next to another smaller red badge with the words “Chief Healer.” </p><p>And a masked figure, tall robes, and not an inch of skin exposed.</p><p>“Gentlemen, Ladies,” the taller man nodded, “I’m Lord Gallahan, Acting Chief of the ICW. This, here, is Unspeakable Ares, and Healer Brown, Chief Healer.”</p><p>The floo burned a final time and a strict-looking woman stepped out.</p><p>“Amelia?” Fudge exclaimed, “What in Merlin’s name are you doing here?”</p><p>The woman ignored him and turned to look at Hermione. Like the three representatives of the ICW, her eyes stayed focused only on the female student in the room. “Let me introduce myself, I am Amelia Bones,  Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement for the British Ministry. And to answer your question, Cornelius,” she replied with a hint of annoyance, never moving her eyes away from Hermione, “a formal request was made by the ICW. It was attached to another formal request carrying Madame Maxime’s plea, who submitted her memories along with her demand. Said memories were then officially accepted by certified Healers of the ICW, and after my own investigation, confirmed by Healers from St Mungos and our Head Unspeakable. As it is I should be asking… why would you ever think I would be anywhere else?”</p><p>“Amelia,” Dumbledore chuckled indulgently, “surely you can understand that you have no say, nor do I think your talents should be lost on foolish school issues.”</p><p>
  <em> ….he is floundering... </em>
</p><p>“This is no school matter, Dumbledore. And the DMLE still has the authority to act on school matters that transgress the law, so that’s a moot point, really. However, this,” she pointed to Hermione’s face, and then winced apologetically, “is a penal issue, and an attack I take very seriously.”</p><p>“Ms Granger,” Dumbledore turned finally, “really, now, I must insist that you cease this foolishness. Look at all the important people surrounding you! You are abusing their precious time!”</p><p>“Albus!” McGonagall gasped.</p><p>“Ah yes,” Lucius Malfoy sneered, “the girl from the papers. And why exactly are we entertaining the mud- Ms. Granger’s demand? A Veela, really?” he sniffed mockingly, and bent to look at her, disgust in his eyes. “I don’t see it. No Mudblood could be, or do you need to be reminded of this, Madame Maxime. The girl is merely an attention seeker. Her sexual scandals are all over our newspaper didn't you know?”</p><p>Only the knowledge that if she succeeded and lived through this moment...Lucius Malfoy would be begging Magic to forgive his words, kept Hermione silent.</p><p>Instead, her eyes stayed locked with his, her face blank of any expression. </p><p>“Do not talk to the girl,” the french Headmistress spat and then turned to the rest of the crowd, “I made the demand. I noticed the difference. I searched for it for weeks because I could feel that atrocity in the air. I am responsible for this people’s presence here. But you-” she waved with her hand, gesturing in Dumbledore’s direction, “You are the one that did it.”</p><p>“I will warn you to be very careful about your baseless accusations-”</p><p>“Those are no presumptions, insinuations or ...<em>n’importe quoi d’autre!</em> <em>Bordel de merde,</em> have you actually forgotten that people around you have also earned their place and reputation in our World? That the great Dumbledore,” she mocked, “isn’t the ultimate authority on Magic. You stand in the room with some of the greatest minds of Magic. My Masteries are enough to recognize and identify a Magical signature, and hers reeks of you.”</p><p>“She’s right,” Healer Brown moved forward, bending his knees to put himself at eye level with Hermione. “Ares?”</p><p>“Definitely,” the cloaked figure moved. “Her aura is pulled in his direction and his magical signature is everywhere on her.”</p><p>“How dare you read my aur-”</p><p>“Be quiet, Albus,” Amelia snarled through gritted teeth. “No authorization from your part is needed in the case of an investigation of this breath. In fact, I could strap you to your bloody chair and fill you to the brim with Veritaserum until you pass out with it if I wanted to. Now, I will ask you Gentlemen and Ladies to be silent until you are asked to intervene. Ms. Granger,” she turned finally, her features softening, “we are going to ask you some questions.”</p><p>“Madame Bones, with all due respect,” Lord Gallahan took a step forward, “I will ask that you let us proceed.”</p><p>“But-”</p><p>“Madame,” the Healer intervened, watching as the Unspeakable approached Hermione slowly, and kneeled before her, “it is certainly not an insult on your work, but interrogating a possible Veela under a glamouring anchoring charm,” he winced at his words, “it must be done a certain way to avoid putting the young woman at risk. A question asked too openly could lead to a terrible amount of pain for her as she tries to answer.”</p><p>“Oh,” the Head of the DMLE paled, “of course, I didn’t think- by all mean, please,” she gestured and took a step back.</p><p>With a flick of his wand, Lord Gallahan conjured three chairs, a little smaller than the one Hermione was sitting on.</p><p>The three men sat, positioning themselves in front of her, the height of their chairs forcing her on a higher level. </p><p>Hermione relaxed immediately, understanding their position perfectly. Her magic purred with satisfaction as her mind registered the knowledge and understanding in their eyes.</p><p>“Ms. Granger,” Healer Brown started, “to avoid causing you any inconvenience or pain, we are mostly going to ask closed questions, meaning that those questions only call for a yes or no answer.”</p><p>“Sometimes this yes or no won’t be answers that will be available to you without risking putting you in a situation we would all rather avoid,” Lord Gallahan took over, “until we have proof, and I mean decisive, absolute proof that Madame Maxime’s declaration is wrong, we are going to do everything in our power to help you and treat you as if it were the already established truth. So if it is a yes or a no that you can’t say, just stay silent. If you can answer the question with more information, then do so if you wish. We are not using Veritaserum on you because it would go against the glamour and force you into a situation that could risk your magic or your life. However, I don’t think I have to warn you to be very thorough and truthful with us. I took the time to read your school charts while we arranged for the Portkeys, and I think I can trust your intelligence on this. Now,” he turned towards McGonagall, “I will also ask for her full school folder, including the obligatory medical ones.”</p><p><em> Oh, I like you….Thank Merlin for competent people, </em> Hermione smirked internally, watching as Dumbledore wiggled uncomfortably in his chair, trying to catch her eyes with his.</p><p>The Unspeakable bent forward, his distorted voice reverberating in the room, “Let’s start with probably the most basic one, so we can decide how to move forward. Is your name Hermione Jean Granger?”</p><p><em> NO! </em>A grimace twisted her features as the bond tightened, raging fire burning in her veins. With a haughty lift of her chin, she sat back on her chair, crossed her legs at the ankles....and stayed positively mum.</p><p>Professor McGonagall gasped and Professor Snape tilted his chin thoughtfully, but the three men in front of her nodded like they were expecting it.</p><p>“We already figured that was the case, there is no mention of a Hermione Jean Granger in the Muggleborn records. No birth, no death. It is just a name that doesn’t exist, and a magical signature that isn’t there.”</p><p>“But-” McGonagall stuttered, “I-”</p><p>“Second question, can you tell us your name?”</p><p>“My first name is Hermione,” she finally decided, enunciating carefully, testing the words on her tongue and sighing with relief as they didn’t hurt.</p><p>“Alright, perfect, you’re doing really great, Hermione- May we call you Hermione? Good. Second question now, are you in pain?”</p><p>“Yes,” came her reply before his sentence even ended.</p><p>Showing weaknesses wasn’t something she wanted, but using those weaknesses….that was definitely something she had no issue doing to end this farce and finally get her life back.</p><p>Lord Gallahan’s lips tightened grimly, “Have you been in pain your whole life?”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“Can you tell us when it started?”</p><p>Silence.</p><p>“Alright, you are 15, let’s start from here. Did it start this year?”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“At 14?”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“At 13?”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“At 12?”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“At 11?”</p><p>Silence.</p><p>The Healer nodded grimly and then turned as the floo expelled Poppy Pomfrey, a folder in her hand, “Oh, Ms. Granger,” she shook, “what is this about? Did my spell fail again today? Oh, Merlin, I thought it was only my wand! ”</p><p>
  <em> Ah! This is almost too perfect... </em>
</p><p>“Excuse me, a spell?” Lord Gallahan.</p><p>“This afternoon, she was attacked by another student, the spell disfigured her. I tried so hard to just cancel the effect of the hex, but my wand wouldn’t pick up on what she looked like before! It just couldn’t read her! I was scheduling an appointment with Ollivander for tomorrow to get this sorted!”</p><p>“Madame Pomfrey,” the Healer interrupted, scowling as he scrolled through the thin folder, “where is her mandatory medical exam done in First year, why are there mentions of attacks on her body multiples times during the years, and yet there is no trace, no notes were taken, no reports of her physical state and progress! What on Earth is this?”</p><p>Several voices rose all at once, Dumbledore standing up only to be interrupted by the officials in the room, and while anger seemed to overtake the people around her, Hermione threw her first card on the table. </p><p>“I never got one.”</p><p>The room instantly went silent and the Unspeakable jumped forward, kneeling at Hermione's feet again. It was a move she recognized, one he seemed to be taking without even realizing what it meant yet. </p><p>“You never got the mandatory medical exam?”</p><p>“No. It wasn’t necessary apparently.” It took carefully constructed answers, to reply with the truth while still hiding it completely.</p><p>“Who told you it wasn’t necessary?”</p><p>Silence.</p><p>Wide eyes, Hermione glanced at Dumbledore, ignoring the pain raking her body, digging into her years of experiences to endure it as she pretended to be frightful of his reaction and searching for the best way to answer.</p><p>All at once, every eye turned to the Headmaster who was scowling furiously, only to wipe the expression off his face a second too late. Twinkly, patronizing eyes fully turned on, he smiled, “As her magical guardian, I asserted Ms. Granger’s needs-”</p><p>“Not Miss Granger as we have already established that. And why are you her magical guardian exactly? Why does she need one?”</p><p>“I only did what was necessary for the safety of Ms. Granger. I do not have to justify her state to any of you, she is perfectly fine. Muggleborns-”</p><p>“This young lady isn’t on the muggle-born records. Do keep up, Headmaster. I do seem to recall that magical guardians for the school are always supposed to be the Deputy Headmistress or member of the boards, considering the simple fact that Headmasters of the school aren't supposed to be involved so closely and intimately with their charges,” Lord Gallahan turned towards Lucius Malfoy who confirmed.</p><p>Dumbledore scowled and sat down with what could only be considered a pout on his lips, glaring at her, and she smirked back.</p><p><em> You’re the first thing Hades will put on his list, You’ll twinkle all you want then, </em> Hermione thought, her heart starting to swell with exhalation and need as she focused on the part of her soul that was missing so much.</p><p>Time to play her second card.</p><p>As the others in the room bent over her record, Hermione pushed her magic as far as she could. Wincing and panting, tears racing down her cheeks, and yet it was barely enough.</p><p>But...</p><p>It was still enough.</p><p>Like a gentle caress, it reached the man kneeling at her feet and Madame Maxime standing behind her….</p><p>And all hell broke loose.</p><p>The Unspeakable stumbled back, his figure trembling, while Madame Maxime fell on her knees, tears racing down her cheeks, reverence, and anguish in her eyes.</p><p>“Ares, what-”</p><p>“I invoke the right of Authoritarian Dispellement and Monopole given to any Unspeakable as described in the law of 1700.”</p><p>“Ares?” Healer Brown’s eyebrows rose.</p><p>But the Unspeakable didn’t reply and his mask never turned, only focused on Hermione. “This law authorizes any Unspeakable to strip any victim, accused or otherwise implied being of any spell, curses, defenses, potions put on their person if a violation of their magic is suspected. To put it simply, Hermione. I will strip any magical and mental defense you have, cancel any lingering effect of any spell that was cast on you in the past- what did she say? since she was 11? Every spell cast on you in the past 5 years to be cautious. Medical spells are included in those ones, you will feel the effect, and I won’t lie to you if what I suspect is right, it will be hell.”</p><p>“As her magical guardian, I must-”</p><p>“<b> <em>FERME LA!***</em> </b>” Madame Maxime barked, “How could you do this?”</p><p>“Again, I repeat what I told you already, Madame Maxime. If a Veela has decided to hide herself,” he added to the obvious disgust of the room, even Lord Malfoy shouted cry, “then we must respect her wishes. As it is, Miss Granger is under my protection as a magical guardian I can’t allow-”</p><p>“Show us the signed paper.”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“A magical guardianship must be approved by the student’s parents. If they aren’t in a state to do so, it has to be filed and go through the board and the Ministry. Show us the paper.”</p><p>“My boy-”</p><p>“Not your boy,” Lord Gallahan snarled, “Headmaster, I am losing patience. Do you have proof to give me of the validity of your actions?”</p><p>“The necessity I saw-”</p><p>“Don’t care about what you deemed necessary. Proof, Chief Warlock, now!’</p><p>“You don’t understand what is at stake, right now,” Dumbledore snarled, “my magical guardianship isn’t to be contested and it will destroy your reputation to go against my wishes, boy! As Chief Warlock, and representant of the Light, it is my duty to act for the greater good, and I deemed-”</p><p>“<b>ENOUGH</b>,” Lord Gallahan shouted, “I don’t give two rat’s ass about your idea of the greater good, Albus,” he sneered, “Merlin only knows none of us outside of Britain do, and you will do well to remember that you are not talking to someone who takes every word coming out of your deluded mouth as gospel truth. Ares,” he called out before the red-faced Dumbledore could intervene again. “Do it.”</p><p>“Do not do this, I forbid you! You will regret the consequences of this action! ” the Headmaster shouted, as the Unspeakable turned towards Hermione, his wand vibrating and lighting.</p><p>Before the ray of light reached her, Hermione locked eyes with Dumbledore, “No. You will,” she stated firmly.</p><p>And her world exploded.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>***</strong>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Pain. </em>
</p><p>So much pain.</p><p>Every cell blistering and popping as her veins seem to be taken over by a river of flames.</p><p>Relentless waves after waves of fire on her skin, pulling her under, drowning her under the onslaught of magic freeing itself and of the agony coursing in her nerves.</p><p>Tears racing down her cheeks and teeth-gritting with each other as she kept her sobs hidden from the world.</p><p>Pleas after pleas shouted in her mind and whispered by her heart.</p><p>It was light exploding in front of her eyes and layers after layers of ..of pain and bonds lifted from her skin, stretching it, tearing it apart.</p><p>Distorsion.</p><p>And then, the blackness finally came and with it...silence.</p><p>Like small fractures sensations appeared again as Hermione broke the surface of oblivion and pain, opening her eyes to a world that she finally could breathe in.</p><p>She watched, her throat tightening with emotions as her magic danced around her, greeting Magic itself as if reunited with its Mother.</p><p>And yet, still, there was only silence.</p><p>Silence and a faint ragged sound coming from her chest filling the frozen office, her lungs collapsing in their cavity as Hermione struggled to breathe again, exhausted and forcing herself not to collapse.</p><p>And, finally….<em> finally </em>….someone ended the stillness of the room, with a shaky horrified voice.</p><p>“Oh, Albus….What have you done??”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <b>***</b>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Harry had no idea what was happening. </p><p>He’d watched his best friend walk in shocked stilled silence and disappear behind a little door without a backward glance in his direction, only to be followed closely by half the staff. Then, he’d had to listen as the whole student body erupted in whispers and speculations, much like they had apparently done when he was sorted into the Tournament. </p><p>There seemed to be multiple opinions thrown around the room. </p><p>Some thought Madame Maxime was barging mad, that the “Granger girl” was nothing more than a plain teacher’s pet begging for attention. He was deeply ashamed to realize that most of those opinions came from his former House. </p><p>Some were speculating and debating on glamouring anchoring charms and for the life of him, Harry had no idea what they were talking about. </p><p>The whole Slytherin Table was silent though. And all at once, with one shared pointed look, they got up and left the Great Hall. Harry followed abruptly, despite his previous anger towards his Housemate. He’d learned since his first week in his new House that any speculations or important talks they needed to have were kept for the privacy of their common room. It was a matter of honor and a little bit of self-preservation, Malfoy had told him. </p><p>Put it simply, it was to avoid sharing information with the rest of the school, or risk giving them ammunition against them.</p><p>Following them closely, Harry sat in a corner of the room, watching as Draco paced, paling more and more as their housemates started exchanging soft words.</p><p>“A glamouring anchoring charm?” </p><p>A voice finally rose above the whispers and the room focused all at once on a 7th-year student that Harry didn’t know.</p><p>“Those are barbaric. They’ve been forbidden for centuries, is this even a possibility?”</p><p>“Why are we all acting as if it is true?” Pansy whined, “the Mudblood could be begging for attention for all we know! Those charms are untraceable! How would anyone even know?”</p><p>“Salazar’s sake, don’t call her that! Did you not realize that Granger got up immediately?” Blaise cut sharply, sitting abruptly and placing his elbows on his knees. “I mean, Maxime didn’t even say a name, she called out to the whole room and extended her hand without turning or looking at anyone. She knew she was right, and Granger got up and took that hand without even hesitating.”</p><p>“Drake?” Pansy called out, searching for support, but Malfoy kept flinching, shaking his head as if refusing to even consider what was running through his mind. “Draco?”</p><p>Tired of not understanding and knowing better than to show any weakness, Harry finally slipped out of the room, thanked the fact that Slytherin House had single bedrooms for its students, and dug his mirror out of his pillowcase.</p><p>“Padfoot,” he called out softly and the mirror shimmered for a few seconds.</p><p>“Hey, pup!”</p><p>“Hey Sirius,” Harry smiled faintly, watching his godfather’s face appear in the little mirror.</p><p>“Moony is here too, mate!” Sirius smiled, gesturing to his left and moving back a little so Harry could see his other father’s friend in the dark little cave, “Say hello!”</p><p>“Hello, Harry,” the werewolf smiled softly and rolled his eyes.</p><p>“Hi,” he smiled back, a little shakily, and Remus immediately noticed.</p><p>“Something’s wrong?”</p><p>Sirius’s face lost all of his joy, immediately replaced by concern and he focused on his godson, “What’s wrong, pup? Is this about Skeeter’s article?”</p><p>“Oh! Well,” Harry shrugged, only now realizing how long of a day it had been, "it’s been- there are a lot of things that have been happening today, I’m a little-”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Confused. Lost. Angry.”</p><p>“Ok, start at the beginning, we’re not moving and for once we have a little time.”</p><p>Harry nodded and slowly, little by little, he replayed the events of the past few days.</p><p>When he had finished describing the cursed letter, and Malfoy’s attack on Hermione, including his outburst against his House, Harry paused when Sirius stopped shaking with anger and started smiling and nudging his elbow in Remus’ ribs.</p><p>“What is it? You’re not mad?”</p><p>“What? No! I was actually thinking that maybe you take more from me than from James, really!” he laughed and Remus blushed and rolled his eyes.</p><p>“What are you talking about?”</p><p>“Well, pup. Your dad definitely wasn’t gay. Your godfather on the other hand,” he winked and Harry’s mouth popped open.</p><p>“What? R-Really?” he stuttered, his shoulders sinking with relief when he saw the way Sirius’s hand slipped in Moony’s open palm. “But, Ron told me everything his mom said about you when she found out you weren’t guilty. He said she said you were always with girls at school? Another girl every week, and you could never stay serious about any of them.”</p><p>“I take offense to that! I am always Sirius!” Padfoot declared and guffawed with Harry, ignoring Remus’s indulging smile, “But you know, there were pretty little birds that I smiled at and flirted with to keep Remus safe because if dear Mother found out who I had chosen for myself,” he grimaced, “well, I stayed in the closet as the young ones say to keep him safe. Wasn’t so bad, I took him to many closets,” he snickered and Remus facepalmed himself. “But,” Sirius straightened, “first of all, I wouldn't believe anything coming out Molly Weasley’s mouth. Second, there is such a thing as bisexuality or pansexuality, you know? But in my case,” he shrugged, “nope. Absolutely sure I am gay. You know what,” he added sternly, “I’m Moony’s. That’s it.”</p><p>Harry blushed at the same time Remus did, “Hermione told me being gay wasn’t an issue in the magical world,” he whispered, his mood souring when he thought about Hermione.</p><p>“Kitten is absolutely right. I forgot Muggles are still pretty prejudiced in those matters. Your mom was so very relieved when she realized how different Magical relationships worked. In fact, she was excellent in Potions and everyone wanted her to get her Mastery but what she always wanted to do was to write a book about it. She said muggle-borns needed to know what was already common knowledge for all purebloods and most half-bloods, that it was actually really dangerous to leave children with no idea about the intricacies of Wizarding’s relationship.”</p><p>“Why are they different?” Harry asked, awe in his eyes and wanting to know every single thing he could about his mother, at the same time wondering about this new facade Sirius was showing.</p><p>But Remus talked at the same time, “What’s wrong with Hermione?”</p><p>Sirius’s eyes moved between them, “What?”</p><p>“When you talked about her, you seemed- What happened, Harry?”</p><p>Deciding to deal with the first question in his mind, and wonder how it applied to Hermione last, Harry forced the next words out of his mouth, “I have a question actually. The rest of my House is having a sort of heated discussion downstairs and I don’t understand a thing,” he shrugged apologetically. “What is a glamouring anchoring charm exactly? And how does it work on Veelas?”</p><p>Sirius paled instantly, and Remus straightened.</p><p>“What makes you ask this, Harry?”</p><p>“Is it about one of those little French students?” Remus prompted, worried lines appearing on his forehead.</p><p>“No, well, I don’t know,” Harry evaded the question, “I just don’t understand what it is.”</p><p>“Well,” Remus looked at his partner, “maybe you would be best answering this one.”</p><p>Sirius leaned forward, his face so concentrated and his eyes intense that Harry could barely understand the changes in his joking, insouciant godfather. “What do you know about Veela, pup?”</p><p>“Hm- There were a few presents during the Quidditch Cup, before the big match, they flew everywhere and they made Ron, and the twins go crazy. I asked Ron, and he said that they were creatures made to entice Wizards. Mrs. Weasley doesn’t seem to like them, say they were debauched sex creatures.”</p><p>Remus coughed and Sirius swore, “That’s...Fuck, Harry...Never say this again, please. For the love of Merlin, what the bloody fuck is wrong with that woman.” He pinched the space between his eyebrows and looked at his friend, “I almost feel the need to say a prayer to Magic to apologize for even hearing this.”</p><p>“I don’t understand.”</p><p>“I know, pup. I know. If our world hadn’t been so fucked up and Wormtail had been-” he gritted his teeth, “then you would have known all of this. James would have educated you as a Lord of a Noble House, and Lily would have made sure you knew every single thing. Once upon a time, you knew a little about them,” he swallowed back the sob in his throat and then focused. “Right, lesson time with your dear old Pad. To understand Veela you have to understand a few things. First of all, Magic is not a tool, or a party trick, or well...it’s not just a thing, but that’s a lesson for another time. Like any Wizards or Witches, Magic runs in our veins. If you were to be tested by a Muggle Healer, your results would be considered abnormal because we are not just human. Magic is not something that we have and that just runs in our fingers and is powered by a wand. It shapes us, it builds us up, guides us. But, take a Veela to a Muggle Healer? Abnormal isn’t enough to describe what would be the results. We are made WITH Magic, but Veelas? They are made OF Magic.”</p><p>“What do you mean?”</p><p>“Well, not unlike Elves, Goblins, Centaurs, they are beings created entirely by Magic.”</p><p>“So what? They just appear? And why would some be half or quarter or whatever?”</p><p>“No, they don’t just appear. It’s a blessing called upon Magic. All those little ones that call themselves half Veelas, or quarter Veelas like the little french Champion for the Tournament, they aren’t exactly Veelas. They just carry part of the genetic blessing that being born in a family that had one does. Like having black hair, or grey eyes, or bad eyesight,” he snorted and gestured in Harry’s direction. “Got that from your dad, pup. But all those quarters, half something, carry a little of the magic their ancestors had. It’s an honor to have one in the family, so of course, they like to flaunt it. But the real deal? A full Veela? It’s extremely rare nowadays.”</p><p>“To answer another of your questions, no they aren’t just born like that, or like a Muggleborn in a way. It doesn’t jump generations and someone suddenly gives birth to a full Veela,” Remus took over, obviously noticing Harry’s confusion. “What do you know about Conclaves? Rituals? Covens?”</p><p>Seeing Harry’s blank stare, Remus continued, “Alright, no shame there, Harry. Lily didn’t know either, that’s why she was so adamant about changing the Education system. Might be for another time, though, but suffice to say that- Well-”</p><p>“What he is trying to say is that Veelas are always conceived during a ritual,” Sirius deadpanned, a little reverence in his eyes. “Take a couple, imagine they are fervent devout of Magic. They married following its rules, they have a Magical bonded wedding and not just a Ministry-approved one. They are part of a conclave and decide to have a child. Sometimes, it happens naturally like any other couple, sometimes some couples need help because they keep losing their babies, and they practice rituals to get some answers. It could be that it’s not time, could be that Magic has been displeased and needs to be appeased. Sometimes,” he added a little pointedly, “it’s because you want a girl when you have only been carrying boys. But for others, it’s because they wish to bestow their own gift to Magic. Sex rituals are then made, the couple will do it in the middle of their sacred conclave, surrounded by their whole coven and any members of the conclave, with the intent of opening themselves to Mag-”</p><p>“They have sex in front of everyone?” Harry choked, eyes round.</p><p>“Not really,” Sirius snickered, “every member turns their back to the couple and they are surrounded by powerful silencing charm and shielding charm. It’s not about exhibitionism, it’s actually considered a breach of privacy and an insult to derive sexual pleasure during those rituals, apart from the main couple. The idea is that every member stands present, supporting the couple, feeding their magic to the Conclave to power the offering. And the couple….they open themselves with sex magic and blood magic, to Magic itself with the intent of letting her judge them. And when it does, when it works, and if Magic chooses them, she bestows a child of hers upon them. A Veela. A little girl or boy that carries Magic’s mark on their skin. A blessing, a gift, but also a responsibility to the one that gave them Life. Those kids, they grow up and live carrying Magic’s marks always, feeling it in a way that us Wizards can’t even fathom. It’s not just recognition, it’s understanding, almost companionship. Like a Centaur feeling the Forest and the Constellations as if it were its friend.”</p><p>“Wow,” Harry choked out, a little intimidated by Sirius’s passion and fervent words. “That’s-” <em> nuts? new? what does that even mean in the end for me and Hermione?  </em></p><p>“That’s what makes them alluring!” Sirius went on, “Not some stupid things about them being enticing physically and being creatures of- well what Molly said. Yes, they are absolutely strikingly beautiful, but Wizarding relationships are based on Magic, that’s what entices others. Veelas walk around positively bursting with powerful magic, it almost runs against their skin. That’s what turns some Wizards crazy with the pull of Magic. That’s no excuse though, purebloods are taught Occlumency from a young age to protect themselves and others from those urges. But that’s also why the ones born full Veela or half Veela whatever else they want to call themselves are sent to Beauxbatons, it’s a school with both genders, yet they are always separated. Madame Maxime is also an expert on the subject, she did her Mastery in Magical Rituals, Blood Magic, and she studied it with Veelas across the world.”</p><p>“I didn’t feel that allure at the Cup. I’ve never felt a Veela’s allure like that.”</p><p>Sirius mumbled something that sounded like “you did,” with a shaky sigh, and then asked, “Well, have you ever seen a male Veela?”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“All my condolences. You’ll have an attack. I might need to take pictures."</p><p>“So….if it comes as a blessing from a ritual? Muggles can’t do it?”</p><p>“Oh- Oh no, no. Muggleborns are never Veelas, Harry,” Remus replied. “In fact, I don’t think there has ever been one that has been a half-blood. They are purebloods. You need a coven, a full conclave to support those rituals and sadly muggle-borns and half-bloods aren’t very well integrated into our society, or know enough of it to try and find their place in those circles.”</p><p>“So? They are always pureblood?”</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>“Harry, what is it?”</p><p>“She lied to me! I trusted her and she lied to me!” Harry spat bitterly.</p><p>“What??”</p><p>Through gritted teeth, Harry explained the events that had happened a mere hour ago, and finished his tirade bitterly, spatting, “And now, what? She’s a pureblood!”</p><p>When nothing but silence answered him, he turned his head back to look at the mirror and froze. Sirius looked sick to the core and Remus’s face had paled so strikingly, every single scar on his cheek stood out.</p><p>“Guys?”</p><p>“This- Is this really what they said? A glam-” Sirius choked.</p><p>“Yeah, why?”</p><p>“The glamouring anchoring charm,” Remus’s tone hardened, and he patted Sirius’s shoulder as the Animagus winced. “They’ve been prohibited since 1061. They’re-”</p><p>“It’s barbaric, Harry.” Sirius said sternly, “nothing short of an act of torture. Many Wizards didn’t think that Veelas had a right to live, or others sought to own the Veelas that existed. They craved that magic, that heady sense of power that came from being near them. So, they used a charm. It’s like a muzzle, like invisible bonds containing the Veelas magic, forcing it inside. It was a way for them to smuggle those Veelas out of a country or a place into their chosen destination. It would have been impossible to recognize them. Their features dull and change, withering with the strain put on their magic, and their magic itself. It’s-”</p><p>“It’s like putting a Dragon in a cell,” Remus tried to explain. “No places for him to open his wings, to breathe fire. It’s having their Magic contained into a body that is too small for them.”</p><p>“It’s torture, pup. Plain and simple. It was actually a precursor for the Cruciatus curse. Constant nerve attacks and dulling of their sensations, all so they could be used by Wizards that didn’t respect the sanctity of Magic. That’s why there are so few full Veelas left. It is believed that Magic punishes us, or that she chooses only the ones really worthy of her, and none of us are anymore. But it’s also because couples are terrified of having their child taken from them. If Kitten has been used by Dumbledore….”</p><p>“Maybe he did it to protect her! And she should have told me, anyway!” he whined. “She lied to me,” he lifted his chin stubbornly, desperately trying to hide the way his lower lips trembled under the hurt he felt and channeling it into anger like he always did.</p><p>“Harry!” Sirius barked, “I just told you it is torture. Those charms were destined so the full identity was hidden, meaning she couldn’t have told you.”</p><p>“She could have tried!” Harry muttered bitterly.</p><p>“No, she couldn’t,” Remus winced, his eyes sad, “it’s not an expression. It’s not a way to say that she just stayed silent because someone asked her to. It’s a variant of the Fidelius Charm, the same one that meant none of us could have told anyone where your parents lived. It meant Hermione was forced to stay silent and suffer for years.”</p><p>Harry paled, but tried to hang on to his anger, despite the fear starting to overcome him, “but she’s a pureblood now!”</p><p>Sirius looked at him strangely, “So? I am too. Your father was a pureblood of two Ancient Noble Houses. I’m a pureblood and a Black. That doesn’t mean she is going to change. People are more than their blood or names. She’s more than likely always been if this accusation is true and she’s still the only one that has stuck to your side since the beginning, maybe it’s your turn!”</p><p>Ashamed, Harry blushed and gulped, “Yeah.”</p><p>Remus smiled “Harry, I know that it must be confusing for you, but Hermione is really going to need your help. Magically she is going to be very-”</p><p>Suddenly, Sirius who had been silent and pensive during Remus’s encouragement gasped. His breath abruptly caught in his throat, and he grabbed the werewolf’s sleeve desperately.</p><p>“Pad-”</p><p>“What’s her birthday?”</p><p>“Sirius, what-”</p><p>“Her birthday, Harry! When the fuck is her birthday?” the Animagus snarled.</p><p>“Pads,” Moony growled, “you’re scaring him! What in Merlin’s name is happening to you?”</p><p>“Moony! Oh Gods,” Sirius shook, pulling at his collar, as his hair seemed to visibly writhe with the rising of his magic. “Harry, when is her birthday?”</p><p>“September, the 19th. She was born a year before me, in 1979,” Harry answered quickly, puzzled when Remus’s breath came out of his mouth in a choked sound. “Guys, what’s happening?”</p><p>“This isn’t- This isn’t- No! It can’t be!”</p><p>“Pads, we don’t know! How could she even-”</p><p>“A Veela, a fucking full Veela hidden? Called Hermione? Anchoring charm that wouldn’t let her reveal her identity? Close to Harry all the time at any risks?”</p><p>Remus took a deep breath, “It can’t be,” he choked out, refusing it, but Sirius was already out of the frame.</p><p>“Fuck, fuck...<b>FUCK</b> ! How could I- I’m so fucking useless- She- I didn’t- Moony, let me go! I have to- Fucking, let me go, Moony! I’m going to kill him! She- Oh no, no, no, no…. <b>FUCK!</b>”</p><p>“<b>Harry</b>, Harry- we’re coming,” Remus appeared in the little mirror, tears streaks on his cheeks, “stay in your common room and keep the cloak in your pocket, we’ll call the mirror three times when we’re in the Forbidden Forest. Don’t tell anyone. We’re coming, cub.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>*Oh my child</p><p>**whatever else! Fucking Hell....</p><p>***SHUT UP!</p><p> </p><p>****</p><p> </p><p>Hey everyone!<br/>Thank you for all the love in the last chapter! I think the next update will be ready in two weeks, maybe earlier if I have more time :)<br/>Love and hugs! Stay safe and take care &lt;3</p><p> </p><p>By the way, I am aware that I am changing a lot of things about Veelas and Magic itself, mostly to go with a sort of more traditional, ancient way to view Magic. So my depiction of Veelas will be different from what you have probably read before, but there will be some things that are similar. This story isn't a War story, it is one that is going to be more focused on Magic itself and on very old ways to view it, with Rituals, and Covens and Conclave...and Magic Bonds ;)<br/>Unlike canon, I don't see Hogwarts as a high school with wands, I just want to imagine how a World like that could really be.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Rituals, Runes, Reunions and Revelations</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Still don't own any of this. All rights to JK Rowling, I am just playing with her world</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<h2>
  <strong>~ Chapter 5 ~ Rituals, Runes, Reunions, and Revelations</strong>
</h2><p><br/>
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</p><p> </p><p>Severus Snape knew everything that could be learned about Magical attributes and Family Magic. </p><p>At least, he liked to think he did.</p><p>It had been a question of survival as much as it was a matter of integration and adaptation to find out anything he could about how Magic moved between members of a family, about the way Magic was treated by the one gifted with it. </p><p>But at first… at first, it had been curiosity.</p><p>It had been the longing of a child, wishing and hoping he could understand his family more. Young Severus wanted to understand his mother, wanted to find out what kind of witch she was, knowing he could never ask her. So, armed with books, he had started his own education, the one he soon found out every pureblood got from birth, and the same one Hogwarts was desperately lacking.</p><p>He had learned in his first year to recognize someone’s magic moving around them and what it said about that person. Were they weak? Were they soft? Were they powerful? Did they follow rituals and revered Magic, or was it only a tool to them? </p><p>In his Second Year, Third Year and Fourth Year, he had learned about Rituals and Runes. Learned that Magic wasn’t just a tool and the deities of his new world weren’t only historic characters….It was funny in a way, the moment it hit him that Magic was a gift. That it was revered, that it was more than just a wand and spells and abilities no one else had. There were rituals and offerings, and….it was everything.</p><p>It was Life, and it was to be revered.</p><p>Needless to say, his pursuit of knowledge and power had led to the exact opposite, and while he had regretted a lot of things in his life, lived through many more and seen atrocious, horrible unnatural things….nothing could have prepared him for what happened the moment the Unspeakable’s spell hit the Gryffindor Princess.</p><p>The girl bowed in her chair as soon as it collided with her chest and a terrifying, horrifying scream filled the air.</p><p>But it wasn’t hers, and it wasn’t human.</p><p>Tears racing down her cheek and sobs bucking in her chest, the girl stayed silent as a mournful anguish sound reverberated in the cramped office, making every person in the room flinch back as Magic rushed through the ley lines, crossing directly through them, cracking like lightning, gathering around her child.</p><p>Severus wanted to cry. </p><p>Forget the fact that he hadn’t shed a tear since the day he had found the woman he thought was the love of his life cold and rigid on her son’s bedroom floor. Forget all the times he had cried under his father’s hand. Forget all the times he had escaped the Marauders only to hide and cry in places no one could find him. Forget the Cruciatus torture sessions and punishments from the Dark Lord and the agony of his mark burning and imprinting itself on his forearm and soul.</p><p>It had nothing….nothing on the feeling shooting through him the moment the girl’s glamour broke. </p><p>In the wake of her child, Magic was mourning. </p><p>She was grieving. </p><p>Crying.</p><p>Screaming her anger and anguish to the world.</p><p>Making the Castle shook as the ley lines burst around them.</p><p>And so they screamed with her. </p><p>Each magical being present in the room bowed under the onslaught of Magic’s sorrow and fury, their mind screaming silently as the girl’s body burst into bright blue flames that paled into white.</p><p>Magic gathered her in a tight ball, seemingly collapsing on itself, creating a sphere so small around her to protect her, but the child was still visible.</p><p>Severus watched with dismay and disgust, bile rising in his throat, as the girl’s back arched in the chair, dark glimmering chains appearing on her body, constricting it in a way that felt unnatural and painful. Red angry welts concealed by the glamour revealed themselves where the anchoring charm kept her locked inside, golden magic pulsing and hitting the chains again and again. </p><p>
  <em> How in Salazar’s name had the girl survived this…. </em>
</p><p>Underneath those heavy chains, the young woman was shining with a brightness that made night seem like sunlight and day seem like a mere shadow, a pale imitation of what it was supposed to be.</p><p>On his perch, Dumbledore’s phoenix sang, a mournful sound, his music turning warm and radiant at the same moment the chains started thinning. In a burst of flame, Fumseck combusted with a cry filling every heart with an ecstasy so keen it was painful…</p><p>And the chains disintegrated.</p><p>The ball created by Magic exploded with a shattering sound, and for the first time since he had met her as a First-Year…</p><p>Severus Snape saw Hermione.</p><p>Magic flowed and shimmied around her, dancing and caressing her skin.</p><p>He watched, his heart in his throat, as the girl’s back relaxed and her whole body straightened, revealing her features.</p><p>Hair that had been bushy and fighting Magic’s electricity, a result of the glamour containing her, lengthened. Her curls softened and formed, darkening as they coiled, mahogany highlights appearing, making tendrils of her hair look like shards of flame in the darkness.</p><p>Her skin paled and smoothed, the frame that had always looked lanky and slightly awkward as most teenagers seemed to be disappeared and Severus couldn’t help but remember all the times she had stumbled in the hallways. He had always assumed it was clumsiness and eagerness. Nothing could have made him suspect that she just didn’t know how to move in a body that wasn’t hers, a frame too small for everything she was. </p><p>Her shoulders weren’t bowing anymore, and she wasn’t bending and hiding. Her figure looked stronger, anchored in Magic.</p><p>She looked….She could have looked the same.</p><p>And yet she did not. </p><p>She was beautiful.</p><p>Ethereal. </p><p>Magical.</p><p>And covered in runes.</p><p>A golden one glimmering on her neck that made Severus flinch back, his eyes catching the reaction of his friend as Lucius paled and shook. </p><p>
  <em> Child of Mine…. </em>
</p><p>There wasn’t anything that could be said that would have been more telling.</p><p>A black rune on her thighs, barely peeking out of her skirt. </p><p>A coiling black line around her wrist that seemed to be disappearing under her clothes that Severus couldn’t make sense of. And he suspected there were many more, hidden to their eyes by her school uniform.</p><p>Finally, her eyes opened, and his gasp was answered by everyone else around him. </p><p>The dull brown had given place to a melting gold that glowed as the girl smiled softly, a tear clinging to her lashes as she watched her magic dance with Magic itself, her soul reuniting with its Mother.</p><p>“Oh, Albus….what have you done??”</p><p>Minerva - broken, anguished, horrified - finally broke the silence, and the girl turned, locking eyes with Dumbledore.</p><p><br/>
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</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>***</b>
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</p><p> </p><p>She had maybe a few minutes, an hour at the most, before she ran out of energy, but Hermione couldn’t relax yet. </p><p>Those minutes following her freedom were too important for her to succumb to the need to curl under a blanket and weep as Magic healed her, nursed her.</p><p>It felt too good.</p><p>And yet still excruciating.</p><p>
  <em> Later….Soon... </em>
</p><p>Before she could even open her mouth, Dumbledore replied, trying to delay her answers - and that was precisely why she couldn’t afford to break right now - “Minerva,” he smiled indulgently, even though he looked shaken. Everyone around him glowered, “I merely protected the girl from the attack our young boys could inflict on her! You know what kind of sexual needs her kind awake in-”</p><p>“Merlin, shut up! <b>Shut up, shut up, shut up!</b>” the older woman screeched hysterically, “The answer is never to hide the girl! If that was your concern, then you should have us teach our boys to control themselves, not the girl to hide herself! She does not have to change and hide to cater to the fact that you assume boys can’t control themselves and refuse to teach them that! And really-”</p><p>“As lovely as it is to hear all of this, and Dumbledore, believe me when I say this is just the beginning, maybe we could focus on the important person here, not that fool’s actions,” Healer Brown drawled, and Albus bristled.</p><p>Lord Gallahan nodded and turned to her, bowing his head, “May I ask your name, my Lady?”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <b>***</b>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p> </p><p>The girl smiled...But Maxime answered for her, reverting back to the old ways, the ones Severus knew Lucius revered, and from the corner of his eyes, he could see his old friend’s shock and fear rise.</p><p>“This- It’s,” she stuttered, “May I?” When the girl nodded regally in a way that Hermione Granger would have never have the confidence to do so mere hours ago, Maxime turned to the others and cleared her throat, announcing with a shaky voice, “Lady Hermione Marlene Rosier, Heiress of the Ancient and Noble House of Rosier and the Noble House of McKinnon, Chosen Scion of the House of Dagworth Granger.”</p><p>Family magic never lied. </p><p>Family traits never disappeared.</p><p>And really, he should have known.</p><p>Because Severus Snape had only had two real pureblood friends before his life took a turn for the worse. </p><p>One of them was in the office, hiding behind the Malfoy mask of indifference, but his eyes burning and his lips tightening under the same emotions the Potion Master’s was feeling. </p><p>His second friend had been the one that had tried until the very end to get him to open his eyes. The one that introduced him to the beauty of Magic and its possibility. The same one that thought of him as a little brother and cast the one he already had out of his family when he joined the Death Eaters.</p><p>Oh, yes, there were no doubts possible.</p><p>Those...those were Emeric Rosier’s hair.</p><p>And those….Those were Marlene McKinnon’s eyes.</p><p>A child born from a couple that revered Magic and abhorred the ones tainting it. </p><p>A child born from rituals that he had participated in, the last truly good and selfless act of his life, standing on the other side of the crowded room, locking eyes for the last time with the woman who would become the girl’s godmother...Lily.</p><p>A Veela.</p><p>A <em> fucking </em> full Veela, chosen by Magic, kept and tortured by a man who claimed to be the Leader of the Light.</p><p>Severus felt like the world around him had shifted entirely, Potter’s word reverberating in his mind.</p><p>
  <em> Hermione said she trusted you, so I trust you... </em>
</p><p>“My Lady,” Unspeakable Ares kneeled, extending his open palms gently, and the girl looked at him carefully before nodding, letting him and the Healer run diagnostics on her and smiling sadly as they cursed.</p><p>“Ms Gr- Hermione, I mean...Lady Rosier,” Minerva stammered, “I have absolutely no words, I don’t understand. I should have known something wasn’t right, but I met your parents! I don’t understand!”</p><p>“My parents died during the war, killed by the Death Eater formerly known as Evan Rosier, cast out of my House by my father months before, and by Voldemort himself,” she replied softly, her eyes locking with her Head of House, “Professor McGonagall, I never met you before the Sorting.”</p><p>Her eyes darted to him and softened slightly, but the pure brunt force of it clashed with Lucius, who paled.</p><p>“But I remember it clearly! Every single detail of it is etched into my memory. I always meet every half-blood and muggle-born when they receive their letters! I remember it!”</p><p>“Yet, you didn’t. And you didn’t visit Harry either,” Hermione chimed in, her voice slightly rough from the pain, wincing as the Healer tried to approach the welts on her skin, “I appreciate your help, Healer Brown, but to heal me will require putting me in a state that I can’t allow just now.”</p><p>“Lady Rosier,” the Healer almost begged, and Severus couldn’t help but agree. Seeing her in pain felt unnatural. It felt like a pull on their Magic. </p><p>Like they were being judged for letting it happen.</p><p>“A few minutes, that’s all I ask of you,” she soothed.</p><p>“Potter?” Minerva asked finally, looking lost and confused, bewildered as if her world had just collapsed. </p><p>“Yes, Harry,” the young woman added, her features tightening with anger and possessiveness. </p><p>“I won’t allow this,” Albus intervened, bolting out of his chair, his hand slowly moving on his desk, “I must warn you! Harry isn’t-”</p><p>Lord Gallahan waved his hand and collected Dumbledore’s wand that went flying through the air, mere second before the older man could reach it.</p><p>“Enough,” he snarled. “This….Enough of this,” he whispered, tired and looking heartbroken, the lingering mourning cry of Magic still in the air, “I ask that all of you calm down and that we clear the room a little bit.”</p><p>“I can not agree more, my boy,” Albus grinned, looking satisfied. “Now that this small matter is finished, Minerva will accompany you all back, and we can put all of this behind us.”</p><p><br/>
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</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>***</b>
</p><p><br/>
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</p><p> </p><p>A deep, bewildered silence filled the air as everyone turned to look at him, their eyes bulging out of their socket, and Hermione couldn’t help the little snort that came out of her.</p><p>
  <em> His arrogance knows no bounds… </em>
</p><p>“Are you absolutely insane? Is that it? Do I need to have my Healer run diagnostics on you?”</p><p>“What do you-”</p><p>“Albus Dumbledore, I am not leaving this room without you, handcuffed and bound to me. You will be tried by the ICW on behalf of the Magical Community and Lady Rosier and locked into a high ranking facility’s cell before that until the day her magic is stable enough to allow her to travel for your trial....”</p><p>“As Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and Supreme Mugwump..”</p><p>“You’re not,” a little stuttering voice gasped, and everyone turned to look at Cornelius Fudge, but the Minister’s attention was focused on the Hogwarts Headmaster, “The Chief Warlock acts as an impartial executive figure over the Wizengamot’s body, and the Supreme Mugwump acts as the pacifier between us….You are not able to carry those titles anymore. In case of pending cases or participation in a crime, any Supreme Mugwump and any Chief Warlock are relieved of their duties and title as they can’t represent the best interest of Magic.”</p><p>“I resent that accusation…”</p><p>“And I resent the fact that I am called here to witness the man I put my faith into being involved in the most despicable act against Magic I have seen!”</p><p>“Minister,” Lord Gallahan intervened, obviously noticing the way the plumped little man couldn’t seem to be able to stand anymore, shaken and lost, “your presence isn’t necessary anymore. Albus Dumbledore is going to be taken into custody at the ICW, and you will be contacted for the trial. I would like to ask all of you to-” he stopped and shook his head, “No, I am sorry. Lady Rosier,” he turned, contrite, “I am absolutely furious about what happened to you and yet I realize that I have not let you talk. Do you wish to interact with the people in this room? I think I can guarantee that my Healer is only waiting for a sign from you so we can finally heal you.”</p><p>“Thank you, Lord Gallahan,” Hermione moved forward, “I do have things to say to the Minister, the Headmaster, along with you as representatives of the ICW. If you allow me this time, you will understand why I can’t allow any healing spell at the moment.”</p><p>The acting Chief of the ICW nodded and asked for the other occupants of the room to leave.</p><p>Professor Snape strode forward, nearing her and faltering. He stopped, and his unreadable eyes locked with her. He swallowed heavily and then bowed and left.</p><p>Madame Maxime came near her, tears in her eyes and Hermione lifted her hand, tracing with a single finger, a tiny rune on the giant woman’s hand.</p><p>
  <em> Gratitude… </em>
</p><p>Heavy tears raced down the Headmistress's cheeks as she bent down to kiss Hermione’s hand reverently.</p><p><em> “Je n’ai pas assez de mots pour vous remercier, Madame Maxime. Vous avez été ma lueur d’espoir depuis votre arrivée ici. Mes domaines et ma Magie vous remercient. Mon honneur ne peut me laisser vous voir partir sans vous remercier formellement, que désirez-vous?" </em> * Hermione said, knowing there was no greater honor than to be given the choice of the gift.</p><p>Madame Maxime went on her knees, and sobbed, “<em> J’aurais dû vous reconnaître. Merlin...vous étiez dans mes bras lorsque vous n’étiez encore qu’un bébé. Aucun remerciement, mon enfant. Beauxbatons vous est ouverte jours et nuits, mon école serait honorée de vous y recevoir."** </em></p><p>Finally, she left, followed by Lord Malfoy, who couldn’t seem to decide how to act, his calculating eyes darting back to hers every now and then.</p><p>Hermione wasn’t about to make this easier for him.</p><p>When only Dumbledore, McGonagall, the Minister, Amelia Bones and three representants of the ICW in the room, Hermione sat down, feeling her legs shake under her, her magic caressing soothingly the Healer who trembled at her side, “Minister, a year ago you were told of pieces of information that you decided to ignore, claiming that it was impossible. This will not do. Albus Dumbledore allowed the matter to go unsolved and ultimately unpunished. I will not, as it is not in the best interest of my Houses.”</p><p>The little man paled, sweat dripping down his forehead, “Lady Rosier, I don’t know what you are talking about!”</p><p>“Hm,” Hermione lifted her chin and tilted her head, assessing him, “I believe your exact words were that it was nonsense and that I was under the effect of a Confundus Charm-”</p><p>“Ms Granger,” the Headmaster started, “surely you have more important things to…”</p><p>“A year ago,” Hermione continued, ignoring him, “you were told that I, along with two other students, witnessed the fact that Sirius Black was put in Azkaban for a crime he did not commit. His innocence was furthermore confirmed by the fact that I saw with my own eyes Peter Pettigrew in the same room, in fact,” she gritted, “I held the little rat in his Animagus form in my own hands, minutes after his full confession.”</p><p>“Ms Granger, that is enough,” Dumbledore snarled, “Sirius Black is a dangerous criminal-”</p><p>Albus was silenced with a wave of his hand, and Lord Gallahan turned toward the Minister, gesturing for him to continue.</p><p>Cornelius’s eyes darted between hers and Dumbledore’s, “This is a matter for another time. Obviously, you were confunded. It was a really traumatic night for you children.”</p><p>“No, it isn’t. I am sorry to say, Minister Fudge, that I can’t allow this matter to go unsolved any longer. Lord Gallahan, the Head of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black has been imprisoned for 12 years for a crime he didn’t commit. Madame Bones, what crimes were Sirius Black convicted of?”</p><p>“Support of You-Know-Who, accessory to murder and murder of a fellow Wizard and several Muggles.”</p><p>“Please, Madame Bones, could you have your people look for any information on his trial before we continue this.”</p><p>“But, I just told you…”</p><p>“Please.”</p><p>The older woman’s lips tightened, suspicion filling her eyes, and she bent over the floo, plunging her head in the flames.</p><p>Fifteen minutes of silence later, she was shaking and holding a thin folder containing only two pages.</p><p>“Madame Bones?” Lord Gallahan asked.</p><p>“This is Sirius Black’s Ministry file, the one filled with his information as an Auror. There is absolutely nothing, no mention of a trial—only the arrest record dated from November first nineteen eighty-one. There are details of the muggle street and the muggle victims, but no trial, no order of sentence. This is a political nightmare! How is this even possible??”</p><p>“As I was saying,” Hermione continued, not missing a beat, “as the Ministry didn’t offer him the trial he was due, I formally ask the International Confederation of Wizards for their help. Sirius Black has been denied his rights, and I have proofs of his innocence. What say you, Lord Gallahan?”</p><p>“The ICW commits itself to the search of truth and seeks justice in the case of Sirius Black,” he nodded solemnly and took the little folder in his hands, “the request for trial will be filed as soon as I am back in my office and I will come to you for details and the aforementioned proofs before that.”</p><p>
  <em> And another card down….With Sirius freed, Harry will be too... </em>
</p><p>Hermione rose, forcing her body not to tremble, “Lord Gallahan, Healer Brown, Unspeakable Ares, I thank you for your assistance and require it once more,” she called out with a wave of her hand, revealing her left wrist. </p><p>Slowly, with shaky fingers and cursing against the agony in her body she could still feel, she pushed it up, revealing the long drawing wrapping itself on her skin, “Albus Dumbledore took more than just my freedom, and I intend to get it back immediately,” she said, extending her arm.</p><p>The Healer bent down, then his face snapped up, then down, then up, and he paled, his eyes wide and horrified, “No…”</p><p>“May I?” the Unspeakable gestured and took her wrist gently, cursing as he examined the scaly form drawn on her skin. “How long ago?”</p><p>“Since the beginning. I don’t remember a day he hasn’t been in my life. I don’t remember a day he hasn’t been my Life, and I have mourned every day without him for the past almost four years,” she whispered back, her heart filling with the tears she couldn’t shed.</p><p>“What is it?” Professor McGonagall asked, her eyes closing with dread when she noticed Dumbledore’s anger.</p><p>“Where is her Familiar?”</p><p>“The cat?” her Head of House replied, bewildered, “he is in her room, I think. What does this have to do with this?”</p><p>“Not her pet, Professor,” the Healer finally asked, “I don’t think I am wrong to assume she hasn’t had the cat with her for a long time?”</p><p>“No, a year at the most?”</p><p>The Healer pinched his brows, “Pets are brought since First Year, and I know for a fact that every student in this school comes with their own pet, even if it just an assigned School Owl, so as to avoid injustice born out of lack of money or access to the Magical Menagerie. Is this- Am I the only one not understanding why the fact that this girl had absolutely nothing that made sense in her school’s files didn’t raise your suspicion?”</p><p>“As it is, not her pet, no. Her familiar,” Unspeakable Ares snarled, his distorted voice sounding positively enraged, “her life bonded familiar,” he spat, gesturing to Hermione’s wrist.</p><p>Professor McGonagall bent, her fingers skimming over Hermione’s wrist, and she blanched, “where- how- where is it?”</p><p>“Headmaster Dumbledore took him from me while the glamour was settling. I haven’t seen him since I woke up without him, but I can still feel him sometimes...barely... it’s not enough,” she stuttered, the first flicker of the child in pain she was appearing through the mask she had made for herself out of necessity.</p><p>McGonagall whirled back, “you took a life bonded familiar from a full Veela? Are you absolutely insane? What the bloody hell is wrong with you?” she sobbed, “you could have killed the girl.”</p><p>“That beast is a dark creature that I couldn’t have roaming the school,” Dumbledore spat once he was unsilenced, the grandfatherly mask slipping from his face at last, “the Hogwarts letter authorizes only owls, toads and cats. I only followed the rules you signed every year, Minerva. You wouldn’t have allowed it either!”</p><p>“<b>PETS!</b> ” McGonagall screeched, “Not Familiars. She could have Fluffy as a life bonded familiar, and I would have had to allow a bloody three-headed dog to roam the Castle! Godric knows I did it for you. Familiars and their bonded have a relationship so deep that- Merlin, I could strangle you with my bare hands right now, Albus! <b>Who are you?</b>”</p><p>“Where is the girl’s familiar?”</p><p>“I can’t allow her to walk around with that thing-”</p><p>“You seem to be acting under the impression that you have a say in anything happening in Hogwarts anymore,” Amelia Bones intervened, “As it is, you do not. You are suspended from your duties, and the Deputy Headmistress is going to assume your place while this matter is solved. I can guarantee that right now; the school board is assembling and listening to everything Lucius Malfoy witnessed in this office, as they have been informed of your suspension the moment Lord Gallahan announced your arrest. This situation is effective immediately, and it will stay that way until further notice. Now, where is the girl familiar, Albus?”</p><p>“I already know,” Hermione intervened, “Professor McGonagall, could it be possible to accompany me to the Slytherin’s Common Room? It seems that the Headmaster decided to confine him there, I found out only a few weeks ago, but I have no idea of the state he is in.”</p><p>“I didn’t kill him, of course! I only had your best interest at heart, and Slytherin was a much better place for him,” Dumbledore smiled gently, his eyes betraying him, burning with disgust and fury, “I only protected him.”</p><p>“Albus…”</p><p>“A containing and freezing spell kept-”</p><p>A bang reverberated in the room, and Hermione’s magic lashed out, every window shattering, the painting on the walls shaking and her hair whipping around her, “You...You petrified him? Forced him to be nothing more than a statue for years? Has he been fed? Has he been kept from the ley lines?”</p><p>The petulant lift of the older man’s chin gave her all the answers, and Hermione finally had enough for now.</p><p><em> Hades….Hades…. Hades… </em>his name kept repeating in her head, like a pulse, like a call, and she knew it was time to move.</p><p>“Lord Gallahan, along with the trial resulting from Madame Maxime’s request, I will thank you to add mine to his lists of accusations. Albus Dumbledore has threatened and hurt a bonded Familiar, an act of cruelty not only against a Magical Creature but also a Creature bonded to a Witch. Furthermore, Hades,” her breath hitched as she realized it was the first time in years she could say his name freely, “is a protected Creature, officially filed by my parents as a Familiar when I was barely an hour old. He is also one of only two creatures of his kind as he is an endangered species.”</p><p>The man nodded grimly, ignoring the way the Headmaster tried to protest.</p><p>“Professor- Acting Headmistress McGonagall, would you please lead me to Slytherin’s dungeon? I’m sorry, but I can’t wait any longer than this.”</p><p>“Lady Rosier,” the Healer began-</p><p>“I can’t heal without him, Healer Brown. I can barely breathe without him. You can put me under whatever stasis you need, whatever healing spell, potions or rituals necessary, but nothing will work without him. I need him there,” she said, pressing her hand against her chest.</p><p>“Healer Brown, please accompany Lady Rosier to get her familiar back. Acting Headmistress McGonagall, please inform your school’s nurse that Healer Brown is to be the sole caretaker and Healer for Lady Rosier and her Familiar. Unspeakable Ares and I are going to-”</p><p>“With all my respect, Gallahan,” Ares intervened, “my duty is to Magic first, and so it is to Lady Rosier.” He strode forward and strapped Dumbledore’s wrist together, casting spell after spell and finally slapping handcuffs on his wrists, “those make you nothing more than a Squib at the moment, Dumbledore. You will be taken to a cell that contains the same enchantment, ensuing you do not have access to your magic or anyone’s else until we allow it.”</p><p>“You can’t do this! I’m a Wizard! Do you know what it can do to someone to be kept from their Magic? I can’t-”</p><p>“The little girl you enslaved when she was 11 years old does thanks to you! I have no respect for you, Albus, and I will not take any risk and give you any chance to fly out of here or escape before you have been judged,” he answered, “Lord Gallahan, the accused can now be taken to the ICW. I formally ask to be allowed to stay and guarantee the safety of Lady Rosier during her healing and reunion with her Familiar.”</p><p>“Allowed. Lady Rosier,” Gallahan bowed and turned towards her, “If you allow me, I will come to visit you in the next few days. I-” he swallowed heavily, “My conscience, nor my Magic, will allow me to rest until this matter is fully solved.”</p><p>Hermione nodded, and turned to the door of the office, watching as Albus Dumbledore was dragged magically across the room, silenced and yet spitting his rage out, muted words and probably insults that no one could hear spilling from his lips.</p><p>She stopped at the edge of the room and turned one last time, and finally….finally, the words she had been crafting for years in her head pour out of her mouth, “I, Hermione Marlene Rosier, lay this plea before Magic. Albus Dumbledore has threatened her bastion and morals, unbalanced its order, and endangered and tortured one of her Child. Let it be forever known that the wizard known as Albus Perceval Wulfric Brian Dumbledore is now and forevermore an enemy of the Ancient and Noble House of Rosier. Let it be known that the Heiress of the Noble House McKinnon supports that claim. Let it be known that the Chosen Scion of House Dagworth Granger supports that claim,” she solemnly swore, and her eyes glinted dangerously as she finished her sentence, knowing that this too would shift everyone’s balance once again. “And let it be known that the Heiress of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black supports that claim. Let no wizards or witches of my Houses offer him sanctuary, for he is not welcome in the embrace of my family magic. Let no Wizards and Witches of my Houses seek him or his direct line, for he is deemed unsafe and his company unsavoury.”</p><p>“You can’t do that!” Dumbledore snarled when she nodded for the silencing spell to be lifted.</p><p>Hermione walked slowly out the door, turning her head over her shoulder one last time, “This is your only warning, Dumbledore. Every magical being in my family is now off-limits to you in every single way,” she stopped, and her eyes flamed with passion and conviction, “You’re never coming near my brother again.”</p><p>And the door closed behind her.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*</b>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p> </p><p>Severus strode through the corridors, his cloak moving behind him. All in all, there was nothing different in the way he moved. Nothing different to the way he barreled down the hallways as if ready to cast a curse on anyone crossing him.</p><p>Except...where every day this was an act to scare the children he loathed, today it was reality.</p><p>There was so much anger boiling in him, so much confusion and fear and uncertainty. He had known all along that Dumbledore didn’t care about him, only what he could do for him. But he had accepted it because he thought that at least...this time...he was doing some good for the world…</p><p>But having Potter sorted into his House had changed that view already...Because there was nothing that Severus could see in Potter that justified the years of bullying, he had inflicted on the boy. There was nothing that justified the lack of care given to a boy that was clearly abused….and so, unbeknownst to the Headmaster, Severus had started brewing nutrient potions at night and forcing them in Potter’s hand every morning. And he had observed and tried to refrain from his usual method of teaching that involved snarling and bullying a child that flinched back every time a voice rose near him.</p><p>He’d thought learning of Potter’s abuse was the worst that could happen already.</p><p>It wasn’t.</p><p>What Dumbledore had done was something that Severus could have expected from the Dark Lord.</p><p>And now, he was lost.</p><p>“Sanctuary,” he whispered to the painting, and the Slytherin Common Room revealed itself, filled with every student of his House.</p><p>Draco, his godson, looked sick. </p><p>More so than his father. More so than Severus himself, but he didn’t have the time to address him at the moment or understand why the boy seemed to take this more personally than anyone else in the Common room. </p><p>All at once, every student turned to look at him, and the silence settled in the room.</p><p>From the corner of his eyes, he could see Potter shuffling forward, his eyes anxious, his hands shaking, and Severus decided this was a good place to start.</p><p>“Mr Potter,” he drawled tiredly, “as you are a new student of our House, this will seem strange for you. But you have already noticed we are doing things a little differently. When a situation appears that will evidently find itself described and used by the newspaper, we discuss it with the whole House to avoid the usual shouts and screams other students have in public as they read it.” He sat down abruptly, tired and shaken, and eyed the whole room, noticing how every student understood the impact of seeing him in that state. “And this….this might be the biggest scandal that will be exposed by the Daily Prophet and every Wizarding newspaper in the world.”</p><p>Taking a deep breath, he continued, “Thirty minutes ago, three representatives of the ICW intervened, and a qualified Unspeakable tore down the glamouring anchoring charm placed by Albus Dumbledore on the student formerly known as Hermione Granger, revealing to the witnesses in the room a full marked Veela.”</p><p>Shouts erupted in the room, and Draco went green, flinching, his back turning to the room so no one could see his reactions. Potter looked anxious and lost, his hands darting to his pockets, fumbling there.</p><p>Severus let them have it.</p><p>Salazar knew how much he wanted to be able to scream and destroy things around him too. Speculations, cries of anguish and rage, disgust...all of their reactions reflected his own.</p><p>He was lost in his thoughts when he realized the whole room had gone silent. Steeling himself for the questions he knew were coming, he lifted his head only to realize everyone was looking at a silvery form sitting near him.</p><p>The little Patronus moved in the air finally, and the cat whispered in his ear with Minerva’s voice, “Severus, Merlin….I am coming to Slytherin’s Common Room...Albus...Albus didn’t stop there. He hid her life bonded familiar in your students' room. She...please, make sure your students don’t intervene. The girl needs him right now more than ever; she is barely standing, I don’t know how she is doing it, and I have no idea how her familiar is going to react. She said he is an endangered species, and frankly, at this point, I am afraid to even ask.”</p><p>Springing back up, Severus snarled, “Listen up because I do not have a lot of time. Hermione Granger doesn’t exist. And Albus Dumbledore’s crimes don’t stop there. He hid Lady Hermione Marlene Rosier, Heiress of the Ancient and Noble House of Rosier and the Noble House of McKinnon, Chosen Scion of House Dagworth-Granger, under a glamouring anchoring charm. He separated a full Veela from her life bonded familiar and hid it somewhere in our own House,” he spat.</p><p>“<b>NO!</b>” cries of horror reverberated in the air as every student turned to look around them, trying to find the familiar they had never seen.</p><p>“<b>ROSIER?</b>” Parkinson snarled, “is this a bloody joke? She’s a pureblood? A familiar? That little-”</p><p>“What is a life bonded familiar?” Potter whispered, glaring at the girl, and Severus lifted his hand, demanding silence.</p><p>Once upon a time, maybe, he would have made fun of the boy. But today, he couldn’t help but look at the dark-haired child in front of him and remember a time where he also had questions and purebloods in the room either laughed or ignored him.</p><p>Emeric Rosier hadn’t.</p><p>“A life bonded familiar,” he started to the surprise of the room, “is a Magical Creature who chooses a Wizard or a Witch. It’s a unique soulbond that can only be broken by death. Many Wizards dream of bonding with Creatures as they serve as an anchor for the Magical Being they choose. Put it simply, it’s-”</p><p>“It means she was chosen,” Draco added, his voice strangled. “It means Magic not only gave her Life, but gave her an Anchor. A Familiar is always magical. It can’t be a normal cat or a simple bird without Magical Attributes, which means that whatever creature it is, it is going to have an astronomical magical and physical reaction to the state his bonded is in.”</p><p>“A Familiar,” Zabini continued, and Severus felt a flicker of pride as he watched his students explain without judgment what was common knowledge for them, at the same time noticing the tender way Zabini was looking at Potter, “mirrors the emotions of their bonded. It anchors their magic, powers their rituals. Being separated from one is said to be as painful as having a limb taken from you. Nothing anchors you anymore. You grieve for the missing part of your soul every single day. Some Wizards have searched creatures for decades, hoping to be chosen, but most never succeed.”</p><p>“But what if her Familiar dies before her?” Potter asked shakily.</p><p>“Technically, if they die naturally, they will do it together,” Severus answered, “their lives are tied. But if one is taken or killed, Gr- Lady Rosier would mourn for the rest of her life. But her Familiar would die if she was killed before her time, it couldn’t go on without her. What Albus Dumbledore did is a crime against Magic as no one is allowed to interfere between a Familiar and its bonded. The second crime against Magic, actually,” he added under his breath.</p><p>“Do all Veelas have Familiars?” </p><p>“No, Mister Potter. Her having a Familiar is not due to her statue as a Veela, just as a Veela does not find a mate,” he rolled his eyes at the insane rumours, “it just means that they are more likely to be granted the soulbonds Magic offers to some Witch or Wizards, be it a familiar bond with an animal, or a soulmate bond with another Witch or Wizard.”</p><p>From the corner of his eyes, he saw Draco pale, looking sick, and Severus steeled himself.</p><p>
  <em> Merlin….surely not… </em>
</p><p>“It means her Magic just called out to the-” he continued and then stopped, turned his head slightly, and snarled, “they’re coming. Stand against the wall, all of you, and do not talk. The breaking of the glamour is excruciating, and Lady Rosier should be in a bed, right now, under stasis and powerful healing spells. Dumbledore’s actions are forcing her to come searching for something that should be with her already. I will not allow you to make this harder on her. Do not speak. Do not interact unless you are asked to. Slam your Occlumency shields so far down that you can feel it in your arse for all I care, the girl isn’t in a state to control her allure, so it is your responsibility to control yourself. Albus Dumbledore tried to use the excuse that Hogwart’s boys couldn’t control their urges as one of the reasons for hiding her. Prove him wrong right now. And <b>do. not. move</b>, or I will forget the fact that you are my House and inflict a year of detention with Hagrid on all of you!”</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*</b>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p> </p><p>The corridors were so long.</p><p>She could barely see anymore, she could barely stand, her heart pounding in her chest in a way that was almost painful and her breaths coming out in short gasps, but there were so many things to consider, so many plans to start, so many -</p><p>
  <em> Hades… </em>
</p><p>Every time she tried to concentrate on something else, his name came back at the front of her mind and erased everything. </p><p>She needed to find the time to explain everything to Harry.</p><p>What she was to him.</p><p>What they both were to Sirius. </p><p>She needed to call for Pixie, her House Elf, and start planning for the trial. </p><p>She needed to- she needed-</p><p>
  <em> Hades…. </em>
</p><p>And so, Hermione let go. </p><p>There would be time later to deal with everything else.</p><p>Right now, only him mattered.</p><p>And as she stood outside the Slytherin Common Room, waiting for the new Headmistress to assert the situation, Hermione let her magic run wild, already reaching for him….</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>***</b>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p> </p><p>There was a sharp knock on the door, and Severus stood, eyeing the way every student straightened, sharp and silent, their back pressed against the wall.</p><p>Approaching the door as it opened, he watched as Minerva came forward first and let the door close behind her.</p><p>“Where-”</p><p>“She is behind me. I just wanted to make sure everything was in order here before she entered,” she said sharply, the same tension Severus felt visible in the older woman’s shoulder.</p><p>Severus bristled, “I have already instructed my students to stay silent and unmoving, Minerva-”</p><p>“Oh,” she said, startled, “oh no, that isn’t what I meant. Severus, I know, alright? I am not under the impression that any of your students will misbehave in any way”, she soothed and smiled slightly at the few students that had started scowling. “And I know before you tried to defend your decision that you haven’t sent them all back to their rooms because what Albus did is an insult and attack on your House too, and so they should be here to understand its full impact.”</p><p>Severus softened, noticing the way her eyes darted over his students without any judgments. They stopped here and there and finally settled on him again.</p><p>“I have actually been called here as the Acting Headmistress in Dumbledore’s absence, and I intend to do things right. Do you mind?” she gestured to the room, and Severus nodded, pacified by the way she seemed to be treating his students with the same considerations as she did anyone else.</p><p>
  <em> Merlin knew Albus hadn’t... </em>
</p><p>“I am under no illusion that you are not aware of the whole situation,” the new Headmistress started with a grave voice, “however it is my duty to inform you of it, and I don’t intend on failing you too, the young Lady waiting behind the door has already paid a far higher price than anyone could imagine because of a  Headmaster’s decision.” </p><p>She cleared her throat, “Before the representative for the ICW took him away, the former Headmaster admitted of another crime committed against her, and despite your ignorance of it, I understand that he has involved you when he decided to hide his crime in the place that you call yours. You are, of course, allowed to take actions because of this crime. As it is…. As she is the Heiress of the Ancient and Noble House of Rosier, the Heiress of the Noble House of McKinnon, the Chosen Scion of the House of Dagworth-Granger,” she gulped, “and the Heiress of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black, Lady Hermione Marlene Rosier has initiated a censure act and declared Albus Dumbledore, an enemy of her Houses for his crimes.”</p><p>The silence Severus had demanded became deadly.</p><p>
  <em> The Heiress of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black…..what? </em>
</p><p>Severus’s eyes darted to his student, noticing the shock there flickering for a second before their Occlumency shields slammed back again.</p><p>Minerva turned to her former cub, Potter, who seemed to be desperately trying to understand what was happening around him, standing tall and rigid. She smiled softly and then addressed him again, “Severus, have you scanned the room?”</p><p>“I can’t find anything, Headmistress. I sent the House Elves to check the students’ bedrooms, but they can’t find any living animal.”</p><p>“Oh….oh, it won’t look alive,” she stuttered, “Albus admitted having placed it under a containing freezing spell-”</p><p>“He petrified him?” Severus asked, horrified, “it could be anywhere!”</p><p>“I am hoping she can find him on her own,” she nodded sternly, “but we might have to tear the room apart if she doesn’t. She has refused any healing without him at her side.”</p><p>A sharp intake of air behind him made him look back, but Draco’s face still looked as blank as it did before, even when Severus knew the sound had come from him. </p><p>“I can-,” he started, only to be cut by a shimmering Patronus, a little racoon, appearing between them and opening its mouth.</p><p>“Headmistress, Professor Snape, if this door doesn’t open in the next two minutes, I won’t be able to hold myself, nor my colleague back, and you will have to replace it. I would like to be able to actually heal Lady Rosier soon.”</p><p>Minerva grimaced and strode towards the door, opening it and exchanging soft words with the Healer while Severus turned and glared preventively at his students. </p><p>“I’m sorry, Lady Rosier, I don’t know where he is, and Professor Snape has no idea either. The Elves can’t seem to be able to find it any more than we do,” Severus heard her say as she stepped back, and the girl crossed the doorframe.</p><p>The Potion’s Master felt more than he heard the wave of shock that hit his silent students as they saw her for the first time. </p><p>In fact, he would bet he could pinpoint the exact moment they noticed her runes. </p><p>And the angry slashing welts on her skin.</p><p>Even though he himself was prepared, he couldn’t help the way his fists tightened once again.</p><p>Yet, the girl didn’t react to any of them.</p><p>“Lady Rosier, my House offers you an apology for the part they unknowingly played in keeping you from your life bonded familiar. Our rooms are yours to explore as you wish,” Severus announced, bowing slightly to her.</p><p>She nodded but didn’t answer, and he knew no one in the room would fault her for her lack of decorum, considering the state she was in. Her eyes roamed around the room, stopping twice and flickering with emotions he couldn’t name as they drifted over the Slytherin’s students, and then they darted over the window showcasing the Black Lake, over the little bookshelves and…</p><p>They stopped.</p><p>And stared.</p><p>Severus tried to turn in the same direction, noticing every single person in the room doing the same, but Hermione Rosier didn’t move.</p><p>She barely looked like she was breathing.</p><p>“Lady Rosier,” the Healer intervened, wringing his hands together, “do you have need of me?”</p><p>The Unspeakable moved forward, placing himself behind her, and stared at the spot she was fixated on again. He tilted his head, one time to the left, one time to the right, and then gasped, stumbling back. His wand appeared in his hand, and he stepped forward again, raising it, but she waved her hand, stopping him.</p><p>And then she moved.</p><p>Slowly, she stepped forward and reached the column between the bookshelves, and for the life of him, Severus couldn’t see what she herself had noticed, what was pushing the Unspeakable to instruct them to move back, pushing them away as she rose on her tiptoes, her trembling hand moving up…</p><p>Up…</p><p>Up… To caress the giant head of the coiling snake forming the stone column.</p><p><em> Not stones, not a column…. </em>Severus shook as the alabaster skin cracked under the caress of her Magic, revealing deep red and black scales.</p><p>“Godric,” Minerva stuttered, cursing under her breath, “step back,” she whispered harshly, and they moved all at once, plastering themselves against the walls, mimicking the students, just as the room exploded with a wave of magic.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>***</b>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p> </p><p>She’d felt him from her spot in the hallway behind the door. </p><p>She’d felt him like a rope tugging at her heart, and once her eyes had landed on him, frozen in an angry pause, fangs out and his giant body petrified to look and act as nothing more than a structural arrangement ….. the agony burning in her veins had only deepened.</p><p>Maybe this was some sort of poetic justice in Dumbledore’s eyes…</p><p>Maybe it was his need for grandiose and drama….Hermione didn’t actually know what had pushed the deluded man to act like this against her Familiar.</p><p>He would pay either way.</p><p>Red and black scales appeared little by little under her touch, and she was barely aware of the reactions behind her because at the exact moment they moved... his voice finally came back to her.</p><p>Spitting and hissing to the world, but she could hear his silent screams in her head as she always had before they got separated.</p><p>
  <b> <em>“Mine, Mine, Mine, Mine, Mine, Mine, Mi-”</em> </b>
</p><p><b> <em>“Hades!” </em> </b>she called out in her thoughts, and she felt the moment he heard her.</p><p>
  <b> <em>“MINE!”</em> </b>
</p><p>His fury felt visceral, burning in her veins, and she felt him search her with his magic, his worry and anger exploding when he realized how hurt she was. </p><p>With a shimmering reflected light, the column disappeared, her giant elemental red-bellied snake uncoiling with angry hisses, exploding in the room and wrapping himself around her as soon as she collapsed on her knees.</p><p>She was sobbing. </p><p>She was sure she was. </p><p>Everything was dark around her as she wrapped her arms around the giant head of her life bonded familiar.</p><p>There was nothing coherent in her thoughts, no sentences she could form as Hades swaddled her body with his, shielding her from the world and everyone’s view.</p><p>For minutes or hours, she didn’t know, they exchanged silently, digging into each other’s memories, and Hermione mourned for the cold he had felt, for the burning hunger in his belly that had nothing on the hunger of his soul for his bonded. The anxiety, the panic, the feeling of failing her, the knowledge that she slept alone, the rumours around him and the way those filthy excuses of wizards talked about her, and finally a few weeks back, Little Brother had come into Slytherin' House, and he had heard more about his “Mine,” and mourned so much more every day knowing she needed him.</p><p>She cried and cried for him. </p><p>And soothed him when he dug into her memories and realized how emotionally and physically hurt she had been by students and staff and creatures. He uncoiled, fangs snapping as he turned towards the students, slithering on the floor to snap his teeth in Snape’s directions. Yet, he never moved more than a few inches away from her, not able to fathom leaving her touch for any seconds.</p><p><b> <em>“Mine attacked by big snake! Could have died. Me kill, ME KILL!”</em> </b> he spat in her mind, coiling around and exploding in a seething hissing mass of elemental fire.</p><p>Hermione reached out, pressing her head against his, caressing the fire she had so missed, <b> <em>“missed you, missed you, missed you...Gods, Hades, never again,”</em> </b> she cried silently.</p><p>His thoughts didn’t make much sense after that. </p><p>Something about killing, avenging, destroying, building a list of kills….which she had already anticipated, and she couldn’t help the little happy laugh that came out of her at that. </p><p>But behind every thought, there she was. </p><p>Always there.</p><p>Her in his conscience, her in his soul and her arms around him finally.</p><p>Slowly, gently, she soothed the fire she had been the only one allowed to touch since the moment he had slipped into her crib, an hour after she was born, coiling and wrapping himself around her little wrist, scaring the life out of her parents.</p><p>Shakily, she tried to move, wincing and whining silently when the pain came back.</p><p>
  <b> <em>“Mine hurt.”</em> </b>
</p><p>
  <b> <em>“You are too. There is a Healer behind us. He and the Unspeakable freed me. You saw it in my head, right? We will go with them.”</em> </b>
</p><p>
  <b> <em>“Me scared him. Me scared everyone.”</em> </b>
</p><p>She giggled, <b> <em>“I think you are pretty scary to anyone except me.”</em> </b></p><p>
  <b> <em>“Good. Me eat them if they hurt my Mine.”</em> </b>
</p><p><b> <em>“Let’s go,”</em> </b> she said, laughing under her breath, <b> <em>“I need you to be fed, and then we can heal.”</em> </b></p><p>
  <b> <em>“Mine needs sleep. Me feed later. Mine come with me when me feed.”</em> </b>
</p><p>
  <b> <em>“Hades, you haven’t been fed in years!”</em> </b>
</p><p><b> <em>“Me not stupid again. Me stay with my Queen,” </em> </b>he hissed, and Hermione softened, recognizing the name he had called her as a child to make her understand what she was to him.</p><p><b> <em>“Then we heal together, my Shield,”</em> </b> she kissed his head and rose, Hades immediately coiling around her, wrapping itself around her frame and resting his head on her shoulder, his tongue peeking out now and then to kiss her skin with soothing caresses.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>***</b>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p> </p><p>Shock had nailed his arse to the floor, and he couldn’t imagine anyone else in the room had felt differently when the giant elemental snake had fallen from his frozen state.</p><p>Severus was a Potion Master that knew Magical Creatures out of necessity and passion, and he had known as soon as he saw the girl’s familiar that Albus had added so many more charges to his trial…. He had thought maybe it would be a bird, a bat...hell, whatever...at the most a little viper, maybe? It went well with the idea of Albus hiding it where it supposedly belonged.</p><p>No….</p><p>No, instead, they were all confronted with a furious, fully grown fire elemental, a red-bellied one at that, the size of which could compete with the Dark Lord’s Nagini…</p><p>One of the rarest and most vicious snakes, hunted for its magical properties or by Wizards that wish to force a bond with them. </p><p>And the life bonded Familiar of the girl that knelt and hugged him, kissing his fire and soothing his scales as if he was nothing more than a big cuddly thing to her…</p><p>Severus needed a drink.</p><p><em> More like ten…. </em>he thought as the snake hissed at him, snapping his fangs with fury and fire ...well, everywhere.</p><p>For fifteen minutes, they all stayed still, watching the way her snake shielded the girl’s body from their view, all aware that they were communicating.</p><p>It was a heartbreaking experience…. Even if it was a beautiful one to witness too.</p><p>Finally, the girl rose, her snake immediately wrapping himself around her, kissing her neck, his beady angry eyes looking at all of them, hissing at some of the students that couldn’t have moved even if they had wanted to. The Unspeakable, Minerva and himself had cast wards on them as soon as they had realized what the creature appearing in front of them was.</p><p>“Lady Rosier,” Minerva stated, her voice strangled and her mouth gaping a little, “that- Just-”</p><p>“Headmistress,” the girl said, her hand coming up to caress the giant face butting against her cheek, “this is Hades. He is a fire elemental red-bellied snake.”</p><p>“<b>AH!</b>” McGonagall burst out a little hysterically and then cleared her throat, mortified, “my apologies, right. Can he understand me? Can he express himself?”</p><p>Her student tilted her head, “He understands English and French as they are my nationalities and languages. He communicates with me every single minute through feelings and words, and thoughts. But he can answer to Parselmouth Speakers too,” she said, her eyes darting to Potter. “He has since I was one, at least.”</p><p>“Right, right….can I- I’m.”</p><p>“He is usually able to make himself smaller,” Lady Rosier intervened, with an indulgent smile,  “he magically does so that he can stay on me all the time. In his altered state, he is the size of a viper. However, as he hasn’t been fed in years and is magically exhausted, I won’t ask him to drain his magic even more to hide himself. His venom and fire are still very much what they are intended to be. He hasn’t been defanged, and his venom hasn’t been removed. As a Familiar and not a Pet, he is considered a Magical Being with a conscience and capable of acting of his own free will or under my orders. I will make sure that you have all his papers delivered to you.”</p><p>“Oh, perfect!” Minerva replied, looking at the snake with a little less uncertainty, “I will deal with all the administrative work before you come back to us. Does he- I have to ask if there is a chance he will bite the students or staff?”</p><p>The snake turned to look at the Headmistress, and the girl smiled, her chin tilting to press against his head, rubbing her cheek soothingly against his scales, “He says if someone does not want a bite, they shouldn’t hurt me. He considers himself my Shield, and he is, Headmistress.” </p><p>“An attack against his bonded allows him to react as he sees fit,” the Unspeakable intervened, “there is little to nothing a court could do against an attack from a Familiar against someone perceived as a threat to their bonded. Don’t give him a reason to attack, and he won’t. I suggest you inform every student and staff of this.” Ares continued, “I will take care of any explanations and papers needed, Lady Rosier. Let’s get you to the Medical area.”</p><p>She nodded mutely and then turned and looked at him, exhaustion showing more and more in the way she held herself. </p><p>Still, she bowed reverently in the way he knew most purebloods were taught since birth, “My Houses thank you for your help and accept Slytherin House’s apology ….though albeit appreciated,  it isn’t needed.”</p><p>She moved away, glancing one last time at Potter, the snake looking at her then at the boy and hissing in a way that made the boy’s eyes widen and finally nod. Then she looked at Draco, and Severus saw it….the tightening of her jaw and the flash in her eyes as the door closed behind them.</p><p>And when he turned, cancelling the wards that kept them safe and his students moved around him, shocked sounds, questions and speculations filling the air in the room, Severus saw it too. </p><p>The not so subtle way Potter flinched, his hand rushing to his left pocket, and then moved along the wall, disappearing from his view.</p><p>And the unbidden anguish in Draco’s eyes, along with the way they kept glancing at the door with longing….and almost the same amount of fear.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <b>*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*</b>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Harry ran through the corridors, the map in his hands and the cloak covering him. </p><p>Sirius was here along with Moony; he could see them as he finally emerged from the castle, his breath short and his head spinning from the adrenaline rush...and from seeing Hermione again.</p><p>He hadn’t really understood what Sirius and Moony had tried to explain. Oh, it was pretty easy to see how fervent and awed they looked as they described what a Veela was...but that meant about as much as Dudley ranting about his video games to him….pretty, magical, a dream...and Harry had never been allowed to wallow on dreams for too long.</p><p>And what Hermione supposedly was...It was too beautiful. </p><p>Too perfect, too magical.</p><p>Something too far from him to even understand.</p><p>She looked nothing like she did before...yet she looked more familiar to him than she had ever been.</p><p>And that made him angry because Harry didn’t understand.</p><p>And he wanted to stay angry because it was somewhat easier than being hurt.</p><p>He had been hurt for too long already….</p><p>Harry bowed his head to hide the way his eyes started to shine, water pooling at the corner. </p><p>Because he had tried… </p><p>Really, he had.</p><p>He had clung to Ron, whose moods jumped here and there about as much as Uncle Vernon's did. He’d followed the first friend he had ever made because he was too afraid to be alone when the girl in front of him had always been there even when he gave back only a tenth of what she offered him. </p><p>Only to be beaten and insulted by the same boy he had invested so much of his heart and trust into.</p><p>He’d clung to Dumbledore, who had offered him a few smiles and a few treats and yet ignored the reality of what Harry had been through all his life.</p><p>They’d all let him down.</p><p>It was only a matter of time before she did too.</p><p>Pushing her away would hurt less. </p><p>Hurting her before she could hurt him made more sense.</p><p>So, he tried hard to forget the way her snake had looked at him, repeating her words to him.</p><p>
  <em> I love you, Harry….Let me explain before reacting, please. I loved you then. I love you now, never forget that. </em>
</p><p>Because it also hurt too much to focus on that.</p><p>Because... </p><p>Because how could she love him now that she was so much more than he had ever known?</p><p>How could she love him now that she didn’t need him?</p><p>What did a Veela, a Pureblood and Heiress and whatever else she was now could need from a boy who’d been beaten and broken until he couldn’t figure out how to hold himself upright anymore? </p><p>Maybe being loved wasn’t in the cards for him.</p><p>Maybe being loved wasn’t for a foolish little boy with hate imprinted on his skin by the fists and feet of his uncle and the proof of his parent’s murder carved on his forehead….</p><p>
  <em> Freak…. </em>
</p><p>Maybe the Dursleys were right after all.</p><p>“Harry!” Remus’s voice tore him out of his thoughts, and Harry realized he had already reached the two older men.</p><p>He rushed through the few last steps and jumped in Sirius’s arms, hiding his tears into his godfather’s clothes.</p><p>“Pup? <b>PUP?</b> What happened?”</p><p>“Dumbledore has been taken by the ICW. He hid Hermione under the glamour you said was torture, and he separated from her bonded familiar and hid it in my House, and- and,” he stuttered, gasping through his tears, “and she looks so different Sirius, she’s not my friend anymore! She’s so different, she won’t want to be my friend anymore, and...and She’s a Rosier now! That’s a Death Eaters family, right? Maybe she used me all along. Said she’s a Black Heiress too, but that’s impossible,” he said, trying to believe his own angry words, raising his head just in time to see Sirius pale and flinch back.</p><p>And as he opened his mouth to ask what on Earth was happening, the older man disappeared in a flash, his black Animagus form tearing through the ground, running towards the Castle.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“<b>Fuck!</b> The cloak, Harry!! Don’t talk, and hang on to me,” Moony snarled, snatching the cloak from Harry’s hand and gathering him in his arms, running at full speed.</p><p>They reached Sirius as he arrived at the Infirmary’s door, shifting and reaching for the handle only to be stopped by Remus.</p><p>“Moony, let me-”</p><p>The werewolf silenced him with a wave of his hand, “shh, she’s not alone. I can hear two male in the room with her, and Poppy is in her office.”</p><p>“That would be the Unspeakable and Healer from the ICW,” Harry piped in, clueless but happy to be of use to them.</p><p>If he was useful, maybe they would keep him.</p><p>Maybe they would explain and let him understand what was happening.</p><p>“Get under the cloak and stay silent,” Remus whispered, and Sirius joined them, slipping under the Invisibility Cloak’s protection just as Moony unlocked the door and stepped into the room.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>***</strong>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b> <em>“We not alone, Mine.”</em> </b>
</p><p>Hermione turned her head sluggishly on her pillow, watching as Hades pointed in the direction of a big pillar between two windows. She had known he would come, but from the thoughts and feeling Hades was sending, she knew Harry wasn’t alone...and Hermione wasn’t ready for them.</p><p>She really wasn’t.</p><p>
  <b> <em>“Hades here. Mine not alone.”</em> </b>
</p><p>
  <b> <em>“I know, Hades, I know….I don’t want to see him, though. He’s- I-”</em> </b>
</p><p>
  <b> <em>“Me can eat him. Good feed…. Very bad dog, though.”</em> </b>
</p><p>She giggled sadly, a sound that ended with a little sob that she tried to hide as the Healer and Unspeakable moved immediately towards her.</p><p>“He won’t hurt you, Healer Brown,” she added with a tired little smile.</p><p>“I’m just worried,” he amended and grimaced, “he almost attacked me when I tried to heal you a minute ago.”</p><p>“I’m hurt, and so is he.”</p><p>“Yes, that’s why I want to heal you!”</p><p>“Brown,” Ares intervened, “she is hurt, and her Familiar has been weakened.”</p><p>“Now you are just repeating yourself….I don’t understand.”</p><p>“Lady Rosier,” the Unspeakable turned to her, and even with the distorted voice, she could hear the way it softened tremendously, “I don’t want to overstep, but can I explain….?”</p><p>“Oh,” Hermione gasped, grateful, “oh, by all means,” she gestured weakly, flinching when her whole body protested, and Hades hissed.</p><p>“The last time they saw each other, Healer Brown, her Familiar had to watch as she was forced under something he knew would be torturing her. Then they were separated and forced into another kind of torture. You’re asking a bonded Familiar, weakened, unable to defend his bonded to the best of his capacities, to trust you to cast a spell on her. He won’t, Healer Brown.”</p><p>“I- I’m sorry, I didn’t even think about that.”</p><p>Hermione glanced at the still invisible Wizards under Harry’s cloak and knew she couldn’t risk delaying the confrontation much longer. Shakingly, she asked for privacy, informing them that she would notice them as soon as Hades was reassured enough and prepared to trust them. She asked them to conjure a few mouses or anything they could so that Hades could feed and be prepared to defend her.</p><p>The Unspeakable and the Healer didn’t even protest, conjuring a few buckets and filling them with creatures she could hear moving around. They retreated to the office sharply, closing the door behind them within seconds.</p><p>No one was actually stupid enough to dare stay while an Elemental snake fed.</p><p>Silently, she waited for Hades to strike, closing her eyes and flinching as she pushed herself out of the blanket.</p><p><b> <em>“Are you ready?” </em> </b>she asked through their mental link, once the snapping and cracking sounds stopped and Hades came back to the bed, sliding under her body to help her up.</p><p>
  <b> <em>“Me can defend Mine now.”</em> </b>
</p><p>She nodded, then forced herself to sit up, Hades wrapping around her to support the weight of her body. Grimly, her fingers shaking, she lifted her wand, casting a privacy spell and the silencing spell she had used for years to hide her cries of pain.</p><p>When she knew for a fact that no one in the office would think of coming out, nor could they try listening in, she turned her head towards the cloak’s directions, her teeth gritting as the space shimmered, and Sirius, Remus and Harry appeared.</p><p>“Little love,” Sirius whispered reverently and rushed forward.</p><p>
  <em> No... </em>
</p><p>Hermione recoiled as if Padfoot had slapped her, and Hades snapped forward, exposing his fangs.</p><p>Sirius collapsed on his knees, sobbing as he looked at her. Remus moved too, and Harry settled next to them, eyeing with confusion the way his father’s best friends reacted. </p><p>Then his eyes settled on her, and Hermione could see how he struggled with the situation, “What- what is this? What is happening?”</p><p>Sirius was sobbing, and Hermione tried to ignore the sounds, pushing her face against Hades’s body.</p><p>“It’s-” Remus started and sighed. “It’s quite a long story,” he said and gestured for Harry to sit down on the little chair next to her bed. </p><p>The Marauders moved, Sirius barely reacting to the way Remus helped him up, holding his hand tightly, and Moony shook his head, looking at his former students sadly, “We told you, Harry, that when we were in school, the four of us were always together. James, Peter, Sirius and me…. The Marauders, against the world, searching for new pranks, creating chaos,” he tried to smile as he bent to wrap his arms around Sirius, “but it wasn’t really just us against the world. James had been in love with Lily since the first time he saw her in the Hogwarts Express. He always said that the Potters found the love of their life early, and Lily...Lily, she ignored him all the time.”</p><p>Sirius snorted, “didn’t give him half of an inch of a chance until a few years after she met him. But Lily... She didn’t make friends easily, and she didn’t trust him at first. The only person she trusted in our House, it was Marlene,” he added reverently, his eyes darting to her.</p><p>Hermione stifled her sobs, watching from the corner of her eyes as Harry straightened, enthralled by the story about his parents, “Marlene?”</p><p>“Marlene McKinnon, your mother’s best friend and mine,” Sirius smiled tenderly.</p><p>“But I thought my dad…”</p><p>“James was my brother, and Remus was ...more...just more... always. But Marlene and Lily, they took me in. Marlene healed my scars, and Lily tried to talk to me about therapeuty I think it is? Something the Muggles do, and she thought it could help me with everything happening at home, and they…..We loved them, you know. Lily was always so sad every time Petunia ignored her letters or insulted her, and in the end, Marlene and Lily, they sort of became what James and I were. Family, siblings...hope and understanding and something, someone to belong to, you could say. It wasn’t just us four against the world in the end. It was us four and our girls. Finally, Lily and James got together, and Marlene fell in love with someone too. It took us a little while to accept him, but he was probably the only Slytherin that James and I couldn’t insult even out of spite because everybody knew in the Castle that Emeric Rosier was a good man and a powerful wizard. And it was impossible to not realize how perfect they were for each other. They both revered Magic and the old ways, and they helped Lily understand our world better. They took her in. Hell, Emeric became one of our best friends too. And they were just...They loved each other so much,” he added, looking at her sadly, and Hermione turned her head, ignoring him. “We were a family, and despite everything my family had done to me, there was one thing I had learned. Family first. In my case, it was the one I made instead of the one I was born into. So, we graduated, and the War started. Then Emeric realized his little brother, Evan, had joined the Death Eaters, at the same time mine did….But where my dear Mother praised Regulus for joining You-know-who, Emeric was furious. He was the Head of his House, and Evan’s actions and choices? It went against everything Emeric had built for his family. It went against everything House of Rosier stood for, and even though it hurt him, Emeric finally cast Evan out of the family. At that time, they were thinking of having a baby….and they wanted to offer their blessing to Magic while doing so...”</p><p>“A Veela?” Harry asked, seemingly forgetting that she was sitting right next to him.</p><p>“Yes. We were there, all of us in that room. Your dad, your mom, me, Remus, even Snape on Emeric’s side, and the full covenant from House of McKinnon and House of Rosier. It was so powerful, so beautiful, Harry….and nine months later, Hermione took her first breath.”</p><p>He was looking at her, she could feel it and him, but Hermione refused to be moved by his pretty words. </p><p>“She was there, covered in black and gold runes. On her neck, on her legs, on her back. She glowed. She was the first ray of hope we had during those dark times. And an hour after she was born, we turned back to the crib to find a little baby snake, viciously trying to bite anyone trying to take him away from her,” he laughed, a wet choked sound that ended in a little sob, and then he paused, “when Marlene and Emeric named Lily as Hermione’s godmother, we all expected it. It wasn’t really a surprise because Marlene and Lily kept hinting about being sisters and possibly making it real with a blood bond as soon as the situation in Britain calmed down. But for me? When they came to me and asked me to be her godfather, I was floored….and so happy. The only time I felt like that again was when your father put you in my arms, Harry, and asked me to be your godfather too. I was ecstatic, bloody terrified, but still ecstatic. We were in the middle of a War, and I had two little souls depending on me-”</p><p>
  <em> Ah! </em>
</p><p>“When you were a few months old, Marlene and Lily came to me. They told me...they said they wanted more from me. They said- They said, “ Siri….Harry and Hermione….have you seen them together?” And I did. I had. I remembered how you would scream, Harry, every time Hermione had to go back to her home. And how sad you were without her. And Hermione, she made herself sick with it, even Hades had started wrapping himself around both of you to keep you together always. And so they offered me something I never thought I would have. I knew being with Moony meant we probably would never have children of our own without magical bonds….and that’s exactly what your moms did. They asked me to not only be your godfather but also to perform a blood ritual and adopt you magically. So that if something happened to them, you would never be separated,” he grimaced.</p><p>Hermione gritted her teeth and turned her head finally, wanting to see if he dared look at her while uttering those words, but a shaky little voice, broken and hopeful, stopped everyone around her. </p><p>“You're my sister?” </p><p>Sirius answered him, but their eyes stay locked,  ”Yes, she is. You became my Heirs and my kids that day.”</p><p>“Heirs? But I thought you were cast out of your family too? It’s like her father’s brother, right?”</p><p>“No,” Hermione whispered, “Walburga Black cast him out of her house and burned him from their tapestry. But it doesn’t mean a thing in the end, Arcturus Black was the Head of House of Black, and he didn’t cast him out.”</p><p>Sirius grimaced and tried to protest, but Remus shook his head, and the Animagus focused once again, “So… we did the ritual. With the knowledge that once the War was over and I could bond myself freely to Remus, he would become your father too. James couldn’t stop laughing. He was so happy. Said his kid got the best sister possible and would be the ultimate Marauders Son. But...but seven months later-” </p><p>“Voldemort killed my mom and dad,” Harry croaked, seemingly struggling to cope with everything. </p><p>“No,” she whispered, “that’s not what he is referring to.”</p><p>“What? Worse than Voldemort slaughtering my entire family and trying to kill me? And why do you refuse to look at him? He’s your godfather too!”</p><p>“No, pup, don’t..you don’t understand, she has every right-”</p><p>“I understand! I’m the one that has been hurt, and still, I don’t let you kneel at my feet as if I was so much better than you. What is it? We’re not good enough for you now?”</p><p>“<b>HARRY!</b>”</p><p>“Oh, cub, no…”</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <strong>*** </strong>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p> </p><p>Something was settling and breaking in Harry’s heart all at once.</p><p>He had a sister….And it was wonderful and magical, and everything he could have ever hoped for, but it was also heartbreakingly painful because….He had a sister. </p><p>A sister he’d let another boy insult while he laughed stupidly, going along with it. A sister hurt by a troll, hurt as she followed him in his fight against Quirrell, petrified by a Basilisk, ostracized because of him as she tried to protect him...and a sister he’d left alone so many times, including this year even as she struggled every day to find ways to help him through the Tournament.</p><p>A sister who’d been there all along, and he hadn’t recognized her…</p><p>A sister who wouldn’t look at the man who was his new chance at having a dad and a family….</p><p>Angry instead of hurt.</p><p>Angry instead of hurt.</p><p>Push them before they leave you because you’re a...</p><p>
  <em> Freak… </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Freak… </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Freak…. </em>
</p><p>“-ry?”</p><p>“Harry?” </p><p>“<b>WHAT??</b>” he finally screamed, turning to look at her, his heart an open wound in his chest. </p><p>“I love you.”</p><p>Her words drew every last bit of air out of his lungs in a gasp, his body flinching and freezing.</p><p>“Wha-what?” Harry said, eyeing the way she sat curled under the blanket, her heavy snake wrapped around her, his head on her chest, over her heart.</p><p>
  <em> She looks so hurt…. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> My fault… </em>
</p><p>
  <em> My fault….. </em>
</p><p>“I love you,” Hermione repeated shakily, “And I am not letting you do this. Not this time. I am not letting you be angry, at yourself or at me. So, this time. This is what I am doing. I love you. And you can try pushing me away, or insulting yourself or me, or distancing yourself from me, or be angry all you want... hell, you can break everything in this room... and still, I will love you. I am not going to leave you. And I am never going to turn on you no matter what you do or say to me, so you can stop if you want, but if you need, then I will wait. </p><p>“I am not the Dursley’s, Harry. I know they’ve been hurting you, I know they lied to you about your parents, and I know how hard it is for you to deal with all your emotions when all you have ever known is their coldness or their anger. But I am not them, and I am not Ron either. I did not pretend to be your friend, only to turn on you. And I am not Dumbledore that has been nice to you but still sent you back to that awful place every summer and forced you into this Tournament. And I am not the rest of our House who used your fame and turned on you the first time something displeased them. </p><p>“I have loved you since the day I met you, the day you were born, and my godmother, your mom, made me hold your hand. I barely remember anything other than the feeling of seeing you and deciding you were mine. There hasn’t been a day of your life where I haven’t loved you. And I was always going to be in your life. <em> Maman </em> wrote in her journals that we couldn’t be separated. That you would cry and scream, and I would lash out with my magic. She said your first word wasn’t dada or mama, but « My Own », as you pointed at me. That’s why Sirius was our godfather, and that’s also why he blood bonded himself to us, why he adopted us.... so that you and I could always be an Us. So that we would be siblings to the rest of the world. And I am. I am your sister, and I have been all this time, and I will be no matter what you say. So, storm away if you want. Ignore me if you need to. Scream or say things you don’t mean … try to push me away because you think you don’t deserve my time or affection… it will hurt, it always does, but it won’t change the fact that I will still be waiting for you. Nothing you say to me is going to make me decide you are not worth my love or time. You have them both unconditionally. You don’t have to earn them. Just like you can’t lose them.” she shrugs unapologetically.</p><p>She wasn’t going to leave him…</p><p>
  <em> No matter what. No matter what. No matter what... </em>
</p><p>The turbulent waves of emotions in his chest refused to settle down as his world started shifting once again.</p><p>But it was much more powerful than the day he rode his broom for the first time.</p><p>Much more powerful than seeing his parents in the Mirror of Erised during his First Year.</p><p>Somehow, it was even more powerful than learning he was a Wizard, and there was more to him than just being an unwanted nephew, a freak who had weird things happening to him…</p><p>It was learning he wasn’t alone.</p><p>Learning he was a brother, a son…</p><p>It was everything.</p><p>In the silence that followed her declaration, Sirius bent, sending him a compassionate and understanding smile that made him uneasy, “You know when I was younger, it was taboo to talk about the family's business. But it was no secret to the rest of the world that Walburga Black was positively insane and how much she tortured her children. My mother’s favourite curse was the Cruciatus, of course and the first curse induced scar she gave me... I was 3. Everybody knew, yet nobody acted on it. Nobody came to help us from their circle. Nobody cared. Until your dad. When your grandparents took me in... I was a little shit. I did pranks that I took too far on them, I yelled and screamed, and if there was even a hint of information hidden around me, I felt angry beyond measure, and I would lash out. And one day, James was out with his father and your grandmother, she tried telling me ... something, Merlin, I don’t even remember, that’s how stupid and unimportant the matter even was, but I lashed out. I told her to mind her own business, and she reprimanded me, and I shouted and like a little shit broke half the room with my magic. And when I realized what I had done, I turned, and she wasn’t fucking reacting. And it made me furious, and I asked why she didn’t care about those things, and I kept laughing and screaming because I wanted to cry, and I thought crying would only show them what I really felt.” </p><p>He snorted, and hung his head with shame, but then smiled reverently, “and that woman... that blessed fucking angel, she bent down, waved her hand to mend the vases and plates and everything I had destroyed in my anger, and she said- she said, “I care about them, but I am not as upset and sorry as I would have been if you’d been hurt. Those are just things, Sirius. You can break half this Manor, and no matter how many things you break, I won’t stop loving you. I will still love you. Nothing you do is going to change that fact. Nothing you say or do is going to make me change my mind and send you back to that place. And if what you need is this, then break everything you want, sweetie. I will just love you more every day until you know you don’t have to break any more things.” Pup….Hermione has been by your side through everything. She has never let you down, never let you go. And she isn’t going to let you down now either, Harry. You don’t have to push her away because you think she is going to do it to you. You don’t have to give up on her because you think it impossible that she cares about you. She is never going to believe you are not worth it, and she won’t stop caring about you, surely you know that?”</p><p>Hermione nodded, even though she pointedly kept her face turned. She wasn’t finished talking, though, and she ignored their godfather - <em> their...their blood father…? </em>.- as she started talking again, “But you don’t get to tell me I am not allowed to react this way to Sirius. You can be mad about everything else, though I would rather you didn’t, but you don’t get to tell me I am not allowed to be angry. Because you are not the only one allowed to be hurt. You are not the only one that has been hurting for years, nor do you have the monopole on being alone and abandoned!”</p><p>Harry’s chin trembled, the first sign of true emotions, “Voldemort killed my parents, Hermione!”</p><p>She closed her eyes and settled against the wall, watching him carefully, and then she seemed to finally decide on what she wanted to say next.</p><p>“Joshua Higgins.”</p><p>“Uh?” he brilliantly asked, bewildered, “Who is that?”</p><p>“A 7th year Hufflepuff. His mother was killed by Voldemort, along with his twin sister when he was 4.”</p><p>“What? Why are you-”</p><p>“Sarah Awell, 5th year Ravenclaw. Her parents were both killed by Voldemort. She was taken and raised by the Ministry orphanage.”</p><p>A sinking feeling was weighing on his stomach, his heart feeling like it was gripped between tight fingers….</p><p>“Susan Bones, she is in our year. Her aunt is raising her because the entire Bones family has been killed by Voldemort and his soldiers. I could give you thousands of other names, really,” she said, as if it was nothing, her shoulders tensing under the strain she tried to hide, “Neville Longbottom, his parents tortured to insanity. Amélie Faucett, 5th year, orphan. Peter Brown, 6th year, orphan. Sophie Davis, 4th year, orphan. There are a lot of other first-generation or muggle-borns, killed too. Zoe Peterson,  Bettie Jorkins, Miles Smith, Dan Jeeves, Colin Jordan...And so on, the list never seems to end ... and then, there’s me. One month to the day before he came for you, Voldemort came for my parents and me. I was almost two years old, and I was in the room when he killed them, Harry. And I am sorry that you remember Aunt Lily’s screams; believe me, I understand exactly what it feels like. I only escaped because of my Elves’ protection, and I am never going to forget what I saw or heard. My family is not a Death Eater’s one. Evan Rosier is not my family. He is my Wormtail. He came back for vengeance on my father because <em> Papa </em> cast him out of our House and family for joining Voldemort. This hurt inside,” she pressed her hands against her chest, and the snake tightened around her, “It’s never going to go away, but no one cares about me and about all those other children. Everybody only remembers your name. And I am sorry that they are doing that to you, that they are using the worst thing that happened to you as a thing to be revered. And I’m sorry you have had to fight every year to even stay alive and that you are going through all these rumours and all. I know you want to be invisible to them, but you don’t understand what it means. </p><p>“Because we are. We are forgotten, Harry. We are the orphans of that war too and yet to the rest of the world…. it almost seems like you are the only one who paid the price. They forget that you are not the only orphan that war left behind. Please, don’t do that to us too. Don’t act as if the world owes you something more because you are the only one hurting. You aren’t. And I will still destroy everything for you, and I will still fight every day and spend the rest of my life making sure that you are loved and that you are not hurting, but others need that too. Please, if you hate that name so much, remember that you are not the only child who lived. You are just the only one they talk about. I’m hurt too, and I’m allowed to be hurt and angry, even furious against Sirius. Because yes, you ended up with monsters, that’s what the Dursley’s are...but….”</p><p>She turned towards Sirius, who paled, tears streaming down her eyes and his, “I waited for you, you know? Every single day after they were killed, I waited for you. Pixie kept telling me to stop crying, that my Paddy would come to save me and hug me, that he would make it all better for me, that I wasn’t alone. The French Ministry tried to send families to take care of me, but I was a dual citizen and bonded to you, a British Wizard, and so they waited. And Pixie….she kept repeating that you were coming, that you loved me, and Hades tried to make me laugh with silly stories about my Paddy and my Daddy….and so I waited, I really did. But you didn’t come. Even when I stopped crying, thinking that maybe I wasn’t quiet or good enough for you. Even when I stopped screaming because I could still hear <em> Maman </em>and <em> Papa</em>’s last words in my head all the time, yet, you still didn’t come. The Dagworth-Granger couldn’t do anything for me. Squibs aren’t allowed to take full Veela, and Merlin knows they didn’t want to try that hard…. they fulfilled their part of my education and presence in my life by sending their family portraits to me, so they could survey me,” she snorted, “and they also sent their etiquette teachers and academic teachers twice a week and then every day when I grew up, and Pixie and Millie and all the other Elves took care of me the rest of the time, but no one would tell me where you were. And I didn’t have my Harry, or my godmother Lily, or Uncle James, or Uncle Moony. And one day, when I was old enough to understand and accept another betrayal from you…. Pixie told me of what you had done.”</p><p>She shook, her arms wrapping around her waist, and the others couldn’t seem to be able to tear their eyes away from the sight of her pain.</p><p>“And I hated you,” she spat, “You didn’t come for me because you were a Death Eater, and one month later, you gave Voldemort what he wanted….my godmother, my brother and my Uncle. I hated you…. but at least it made sense. You didn’t only betray me. You betrayed everyone. You were a traitor. You weren’t worthy of the pain I was feeling. And I threw myself into learning everything I could and preparing myself for Hogwarts. I had no idea where my Harry was, but I knew if he was alive, he would be there. So, I went. And then Dumbledore……”, she shuddered, a shaky finger rising to touch some of the angry wounds on her skin, “I still tried my best to be in my brother’s life and keep him safe. And then you escaped.”</p><p>She swallowed heavily, “I spent the summer before Third Year, trying to figure out how to protect him from you. Because it made sense really, you had escaped to kill him and finish what you had done. But I wouldn’t let you do that. I wouldn’t let you take him from me. When he received the broom, I was terrified for him, I kept thinking of all the curses you could have put in it, so I ended up alone for a few months because I took it from Harry to get it checked. And then you broke into the castle…..I had the time turner already, and even though Dumbledore had been very careful about how far I could go back in time so as to not change his plan, I still tried to use it to find you. I didn’t know what I would do to you, but I had to make sure you didn’t hurt him. But then….then you were there, in front of me, and Wormtail too….and you hadn’t betrayed them. And you weren’t a Death Eater, and you weren’t bad, but where did that leave me really? I was both relieved and yet….destroyed, because- because-”</p><p>Finally, her chest heaved, and Hermione started sobbing, “ if you weren’t bad, and if you didn’t betray Harry...then it was only me you had left behind. It was only me you hadn’t wanted. And still, even though I had promised myself that you weren’t worthy of it, I waited for you last summer. You were on the run, you were hiding, but you had come to check and save Harry. Surely….you would come for me, and I would finally be free? I waited every afternoon in the gardens, knowing that the wards hadn’t been changed and you could have crossed them, and you would have seen me behind them. And surely, you would have understood something was wrong because Hermione Granger couldn’t have been at Rosier's Manor. And- and- <strong>I don’t care!!!</strong> I don't care about your “little love”, and your “pups”, and your declarations that you loved me. I don’t care that you are here now that I’ve dealt with everything alone! Because I waited and waited….and yet, you never came. <b>Why should I care that you want me now?</b>”</p><p>She burst into tears, heavy sobs bucking in her chest, and Harry forgot everything else. He gulped, and he knew there were tears racing down his cheeks as he watched her. He tried to rush forward, but the snake recoiled and snapped his fangs, and really, Harry couldn’t blame him.</p><p>But he begged anyway.</p><p>Using the language, he had always thought he should hate but that he now knew he had in him since the day he was born.</p><p>
  <b> <em>$...Please, please…$</em> </b>
</p><p>Slowly, Hades uncoiled, letting him move forward and wrap his arms around his best friend.</p><p>His sister.</p><p>Holding her, free as she was, with her magic hurting but still dancing around her…</p><p>It felt familiar…As if his soul had met hers years ago and they had picked up right where they left off….</p><p>Like...understanding.</p><p>A silent... <em> I’ve been waiting for you, and I have missed you for so long </em>…</p><p>Behind his closed eyelids, he could remember wild hair and tiny giggles muffled by blankets too big for their tiny bodies.</p><p>Hugs and golden Magic shimmering around the little girl that was playing with him and his little toys.</p><p>And Harry cried too.</p><p>He cried for all the years he had ignored her pain and everyone else’s, thinking he was the only one hurt. </p><p>He cried for the girl in his arms that expected him to hurt her but still promised to stay.</p><p>He cried for missed chances and for the childhood they should have lived together.</p><p>For all the birthdays, they were both alone and forgotten.</p><p>He cried for the fists, canes and the cupboard he had suffered through and the loneliness and fear she had felt.</p><p>He cried because she knew it too….that feeling of unworthiness, isolation and abandon...</p><p>Shame weighed heavily on his heart, and “Sorry” and “I love you” and “I’m here” poured out of his mouth along with promises to never leave again answered by sobs and soft words that broke his heart as the strongest person he knew asked why….</p><p>
  <em> Why not her? Why did no one stay? Why did no one care? Why wasn’t she worth it… </em>
</p><p>From the corner of his eyes, he could see Sirius breaking too. Moony bending to hold him, his face drawn with shame and regret.</p><p>“Little love, please,” Padfoot begged, “I’m sorry, so sorry.”</p><p>“Where were you?” Harry asked, his voice turning steely as his universe seemed to focus finally, the girl in his arms settling at the forefront of everything he was.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*</b>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p> </p><p>On the other side of the castle, several levels under the ground, in the dungeons, Severus Snape finally collapsed on his comfy chair, a hot tea in his hands and a lot of wariness etched into his features.</p><p>He’d had a long talk with Minerva on their way back, and he knew the next few days would be challenging at best... exhausting more than likely too. </p><p>Along with the details about Albus’s actions, his new Acting Headmistress had informed him of the impending trial of his childhood nemesis, Sirius Black, and the fact that after a few floo calls and a lot of screaming, she had found out that she and Potter were blood bonded siblings and Black their adoptive father too…..it had taken everything he had in him to refrain from pouring the ten drinks he craved.</p><p>But he’d promised himself to never drink, hating the scent of alcohol too reminiscent of his father.</p><p>Lifting the tea to his lips with shaky fingers, he startled, spilling the hot beverage on his chest and hissing through his teeth as pounding fists knocked on his door.</p><p>He was going to murder anyone standing behind that door.</p><p>Snarling, he rushed through the dungeons, thinking he could indulge himself and revert back to being the snarky greasy git every student thought him to be. </p><p>Screaming at a poor soul sounded pretty comforting to him right about now.</p><p>But when he opened the door, he stopped.</p><p>Draco stood there, his fist still in the air, and nothing Severus could have said would have made his godson look more wretched, destroyed and afraid than he was right now.</p><p>“Draco?’</p><p>The boy opened his mouth, then closed it. </p><p>He opened it again, his scared eyes colliding with his.</p><p>“I fucked up, godfather. Merlin, Severus... <strong>I fucked up so bad</strong>.”</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>* ............ I don't have enough words to thank you, Madame Maxime. You have been my ray of hope since you arrived here. My Houses and my Magic thank you. My honour won't allow me to see you leave without offering you a formal proof of my gratitude, what do you wish for?</p><p> </p><p>** ....... I should have recognized you. Merlin...You were in my arms when you were still just a little baby. No thank you or gifts are needed, my child. Beauxbatons is open to you day and night, my school would be honoured to count you in our ranks.</p><p> </p><p>****************************************************</p><p> </p><p>I am overwhelmed by the comments and posts on Facebook groups that talked about my stories. Pretty scary too, because.... man...the pressure! ^^' I am going so far away from canon even if I try to keep the characterization accurate. I hope you stick with me and this story !</p><p>I feel like I need to explain this though. I haven't answered a lot of comments that were angry about Harry's reactions, because I was too afraid to spoil the rest of the story.<br/>I understand your reactions, but now I hope you understand his.<br/>Unlike Canon and JK Rowling, I don't want to gloss over Harry's abuse and the way it can explain some of his reactions or defence mechanism. Surviving abuse or going through abuse is not something that you overcome easily, especially as a child. And I refused to ignore it like the books did.<br/>So, yes, his reactions are "normal" considering what he has been through. He is still a 14 years old kid, dealing with so many conflicting emotions, someone who has never been allowed to express them in a healthy way.<br/>He won't be as frustrating in the next chapter as he was in the last one....he needed to be heard and to hear what Hermione had to say first though.<br/>This chapter was so very important to the story for Harry and Hermione...I hope I did it justice!</p><p>Anyway, I really hope you enjoyed the new chapter! Next one: Draco POV will be there too ;) along with Lucius and Narcissa, and a lot more of Sirius, Hermione, and Harry.</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I have absolutely no idea how frequently I am going to update, so I can't tell you a specific schedule. Right now, I have a lot of ideas and I am taking notes on the side, figuring it all out.<br/>I am using this story as a way to put absolutely everything I love in fanfiction into one plot hehe, but also as something to write when I have a creative block on my original work.<br/>I hope you like it! Take care and stay safe &lt;3</p></blockquote></div></div>
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